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No. 1 seed Burlington Central survives scare from Kaneland

Winning in the postseason doesn't have to be pretty, and it certainly wasn't for No. 1 seed Burlington Central Tuesday night in the semifinals of the Class 3A Aurora Central Catholic regional.

After spotting the Rockets an 11-0 lead to start the game, Kaneland battled back the rest of the night, getting as close as 38-36 midway through the fourth quarter.

That's when the Rockets' all-time leading scorer, Zach Schutta, stepped up and hit the biggest shot of the game, a corner 3-pointer that halted Kaneland's momentum. Patrick Mayfield followed with a baseline drive on the next possession, and Burlington Central was able to exhale with a 49-41 victory.

"Definitely the momentum was in their favor with all their fans, their student section," Schutta said. "We just wanted to slow it down, get a good shot and execute. It was in rhythm and I took the shot.

"This game was a good example of survive and advance. We just have to focus on next game and the task at hand."

That will come Friday night when Burlington Central (26-3) will play the winner of No. 4 seed Montini and No. 6 Aurora Central Catholic for the regional title.

It's been 10 years since the Rockets have won an elusive regional crown despite having 26-4 records the past two years, and No. 7 seed Kaneland (11-19) did its best to extend the drought.

"I feel this was a good test for the first game, woke us up, made us realize we still have stuff to work on as a team, as a unit," senior point guard Dejsani Beamon said. "I'm glad we came out with the W."

Beamon was in the middle of the Rockets' best stretch, the first four minutes. He had a pair of steals and a pair of layups, and Schutta and Michael Kalusa also scored in transition for an 11-0 lead with 4:24 left in the first quarter.

"Coming out of the gate I knew I needed to set the tone, make sure the game was fast-paced, keep the game at our pace," Beamon said.

Kaneland settled down and began chipping away even with leading scorer Blake Feiza sidelined with 2 fouls. Six-foot-4 junior Luke Brost scored on a pair of putbacks and Kyle Stuart drained a 3 before Beamon's pass to Jake Lenschow inside gave the Rockets a 27-19 halftime lead.

"They really knocked us in the mouth and I thought we battled back," Kaneland coach Joe Conroy said.

Feiza returned to start the third quarter and dominated inside. He scored 7 straight for the Knights in the third quarter, capping it with 2 free throws to cut the Rockets' lead to 38-34 heading to the fourth quarter.

Much to the pleasure of a big Knights fan turnout, Feiza's 2 free throws with 5:33 left in the game made it 38-36.

On the Rockets next possession, Burlington Central took over two minutes off the clock thanks to offensive rebounds from Schutta and William Hough, and that eventually led to Schutta's clutch 3. After the Knights missed, Mayfield scored with 2:17 remaining for a 7-point lead.

"I was really pleased with our team's ability to stay patient there and spread their zone out," Rockets coach Brett Porto said. "Those two possessions you can't ask for better shots from Schutta and Mayfield, and that was all she wrote after that."

Wyatt Peeler banked in a 3-pointer from the top of the key with a minute left to bring the Knights within 43-39. Mayfield and Schutta made 6-of-6 at the line to ice the game.

"I thought the momentum had swung our way and they got some key offensive rebounds late," Conroy said. "Hats off to them, that's the reason they are the No. 1 team in the sectional."

Mayfield led the Rockets with 18 points and 4 steals. Schutta scored 7 of his 14 points in the final four minutes, and Beamon added 8 points and 4 steals.

"Feiza and (Rhett) Espe being seniors, our kids have been playing against them a long time, we know how tough they are to guard and we knew how competitive they were going to be tonight," Porto said.

The Rockets only had 7 turnovers to Kaneland's 16, which offset the Knights 31-25 rebounding advantage.

Feiza scored 15 of his game-high 19 points in the second half. Brost added 8 points and 6 rebounds.

"He (Feiza) showed his true ability," Conroy said. "He's quite a player but he's a better kid. He really stepped up in the second half. He knew that foul in the beginning was a bad foul. He proved in the second half what he's made of. All five seniors played a huge part in what we did. We told them the game had to be in the 50s. I couldn't be prouder of my guys, kept them in the 40s. That's a good team."

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