With the game tied at 47 and 9.7 seconds left on the clock, Annawan Coach Alex Coppejans called a timeout to set up one final play.
After Annawan inbounded the ball at halfcourt, senior Gabe Sims ran to the opposite corner of the court, then moved inside the lane, got the ball and put up a shot in the paint. It bounced off the rim and back into his hands for a rebound bucket just before the final buzzer sounded, giving the Braves the 49-47 win over the Galva Wildcats.
The win pits second-seeded Annawan (24-8) against third-seeded Fulton (24-11) in the 1A Wethersfield Regional title game at 7 p.m. Friday. Fulton defeated the Geese, 68-46, in the second Wednesday night semifinal game.
Annawan 49, Galva 47
The two LTC teams played to an 8-8 draw in the low-scoring first quarter. The score remained tied after each team put up 10 second-quarter points for a halftime score of 18-18.
Maddux Heitzler was efficient from beyond the arc, making three treys for nine points in the first half for Annawan, and Brady Heitzler added five points in the half.
Blake Stahl came up big for Galva, scoring seven second quarter points and nine in the first half.
Neither team was able to gain any ground in the third quarter. Galva outscored Annawan 13-12 to take a narrow 31-30 lead into the final eight minutes of play.
Galva opened up a 38-34 lead at the onset of the fourth quarter. After a free throw by Brady Heitzler, Maddux Heitzler connected on a baseline 3-pointer to tie the score at 38.
That was followed up by a layup by Sims, giving Annawan a 40-38 lead. With under four minutes left to play, MJ Louck hit a big baseline jumper for three, giving Galva back the lead at 43-42.
Brody Childs answered with a trey of his own to put Annawan back on top, 45-43, with two minutes left in the game. Over the course of the next minute, Brady Heitzler and Maddux Heitzler each made a free throw to give Annawan a 47-44 edge.
With under 20 seconds left in the game, MJ Louck got the ball to Stahl who made a clutch 3-pointer to tie the game back up at 47 apiece.
Annawan then called a timeout with 9.7 seconds left to set up the winning shot by Sims.
Maddux Heitzler had game scoring honors with 21 points for the Braves, Brody Childs added 12 and Brady Heitzler scored 10 in the win.
Blake Stahl led Galva with 17 points, while MJ Louck and Cyrus Lilly scored eight points each.
