BARBERTON – The Heartland Christian Lions knew the challenge of the situation they were facing. And they knew the opponent well. But unfortunately, the Hillsdale Falcons used a strong shooting performance and solid defense to dramatically sneak past the Lions, 58-57, to advance to the state semifinals in the Ohio Division VIII boys basketball tournament.

With the loss, the Lions close the season with a school-best 22-5 mark. It was also the farthest that a Lion athletic program has advanced in OHSAA post-season competition.

“It has been an incredible year. I’m trying to keep that in perspective,” Lions head coach Josh Scott said. “Only seven teams get to not lose on their last day.”

“It’s been a great season, obviously, this hurts real bad. We came this far and didn’t expect it. But we have a great team, and I’m just out of words,” Senior Corban Seutia said. “I’m excited to see how this team can grow.”

Perhaps, adding insult to injury, the Lions watched the Falcons enjoy a District championship last year when the Lions dropped a hard-fought 73-54 game to them, with the Lions returning most of their starters from last year.

The victory improves the Falcons to 20-7 on the year, and advances them to the state semifinals next Friday. They will be taking on Saturday’s winner of the Kalida Wildcats/Montpelier Locomotives game at Wright State University Nutter Center on March 20.

With the game tied at 56, the Lions turned the ball over under their own basket with just 21 seconds left in the contest. Following a time out, the Falcons drove up court with Troy Bennett scoring a bucket with only 8 ticks remaining, giving the Falcons a 58-56 advantage.

“Costly turnovers were super important,” Senior Isiah Mathews said. “In games like this, every play matters, every possession matters. When you make a mistake, they capitalize on it.”

Without any timeouts remaining, the Lions drove up the court with Collin Kalaher throwing up a shot. The shot was wide, but a foul was called on the Falcons with 6-tenth of a second remaining in the game. Unfortunately, after Kalaher hit the first shot, the second one hit the front of the rim, and the Falcons swatted the ball up the court to clinch the victory.

“It just came down to stops in the end,” Scott said. “We needed to do a better job of getting some stops.”

The Falcons came out on fire as they connected on their first six shots from the floor, jumping out to an early 19-4 lead by the 3:03 mark of the first quarter. A basket by Seutia at the 2:53 mark helped spark a 6-2 run to close the opening period as the Lions faced an 11-point, 21-10 deficit.

Then, following a basket by the Falcons to start the second frame, the Lions roared back with a 14-0 run, helped by forcing 6 Falcon turnovers and 7 points by Brody Conaway. When Jacob Reed connected on the first of two free throws at the 2:41 mark, the Lions grabbed their first lead in the game at 24-23. However, the Falcons answered with a 5-1 run to close the half, holding a 28-25 advantage going into the halftime locker rooms.

“It was just defensive stops,” Scott said of what changed in the game for the Lions. “We got out and made them move the ball. We felt like if we could get them to pass the ball and moving it around, then we could get some takes and get some easier shots. To create some offense from our defense.”

The two teams battled back and forth to start the second half until the Falcons enjoyed a 10-3 run to hold a 10-point lead with 1:50 remaining in the third. The Lions trailed by 8 at the close of the frame, 44-36.

The Lions made one more desperate charge in the fourth quarter as Seutia connected on consecutive threes and a basket by Reagan Kalaher with 3:04 remaining in the game knotted it up at 46-46. When Mathews connected on a three-pointer at the 2:42 mark, the Lions recaptured the lead at 52-51. A basket by Collin Kalaher gave the Lions a 3-point advantage before the Falcons Hayden McFadden connected on a trey to tie it at 54-54. The two teams traded baskets in the final minute of the game before the dramatic ending.

“We got forced into trying to make some tough shots,” Scott said. “What makes us special can also be the crux, too. We had guys trying to make plays and maybe took some tougher shots, contested, off-balance, then what they probably should have in the moment. It’s no fault of the kids; they are trying to make plays. We won games playing like that, too.

Conaway would lead the Lions in the game with 17 points, while Collin Kalaher added 16. Seutia would score 10, including 2 three-pointers.

“I couldn’t be more proud of my team and my teammates,” Seutia said. “I’m definitely not going to forget this experience.”

Kael Lewis led the Falcons in scoring with a game-high 19 points and 10 rebounds, while Hayden McFadden and Lowed Ferguson each tallied 11. Ferguson hit on three shots from beyond the arc.