STILLMAN VALLEY — A promising start to Wednesday’s IHSA Class 3A Regional Semifinal soon turned into heartbreak for the Hubs varsity basketball team.

Facing the fifth-seeded Dixon Dukes for the right to take on top-seeded Rock Falls in the regional championship at Stillman Valley High School, the Rochelle boys needed one final defensive stand with the game tied and 1.5 seconds remaining in regulation. Dixon’s Derian Duncan looked to inbound the basketball from underneath Rochelle’s basket, and Duncan found Duke standout Beau Bailey, who turned from the base line and hit a step-back shot over Rochelle senior Komla Gati as time expired.

Bailey’s buzzer-beating jumper netted him 24 points on the night, but more importantly, the bucket lifted Dixon over fourth-seeded Rochelle by a final score of 58-56. The Dukes will play Rock Falls for the regional title Friday night, while the Hubs finish the 2017-18 season with an overall record of 16-11.

“Our kids played their butts off and we have to give Dixon credit because they played excellent basketball,” head coach Tim Thompson said. “I feel like this game is on me because I really feel like I should’ve taken a timeout before those last 1.5 seconds… We had who we wanted on Beau, but he caught the ball and players make plays. It was a nice shot and he deserves credit.”

The Hubs edged Dixon 45-42 earlier this season, and after the first quarter of Wednesday’s game, it looked like Rochelle could be on its way to another victory over the Dukes. The Hubs led Dixon 17-9 after the first quarter behind 10 points from junior Johnny Beck, who led Rochelle with 24 points in the game.

But Dixon began the second quarter on a 7-0 run to jump right back into the mix, and the Dukes worked hard to keep Beck out of the low post. Dixon took its first lead of the game during the final seconds of the second quarter before Gati stole the basketball from Bailey and passed the ball to Rochelle senior Riley Lodico, who put in a basket to tie the game 27-27 at halftime.

“Johnny had some open looks and he’s a good 3-point shooter,” Thompson said. “We had a few mistakes trying to get the ball in low, and on our initial action we were getting the ball in but I thought our guys were waiting a little too long. By the time they threw the ball inside, the ball would be deflected. I wish we could’ve gotten him a couple more touches.”

Neither team could get away from the other throughout the second half. Beck and Lodico combined for nine of Rochelle’s 16 points in the third quarter, while Bailey and Oscar Van Sickle teamed up for 10 of Dixon’s 14 points in the quarter. The Hubs held a slim 43-41 lead when the fourth quarter began.

“It’s a pretty even matchup considering they have really solid guard play and we have a pretty decent big man,” Thompson said. “They ran good action for Bailey. We started out playing our normal defense, but in the second half we tried taking help away from Bailey and other guys were making shots so we went back to our regular defense. Bailey just made plays tonight.”

Rochelle had an opportunity to put the clamps on Dixon in the fourth quarter with a 48-43 lead, but the Dukes quickly reversed fortunes after Van Sickle hit a 3-pointer and Dixon scored two layups off Rochelle turnovers to take the lead 50-48 and force a Hub timeout. Rochelle then made back-to-back shots to jump ahead 52-50 and cause Dixon to stop play.

“There were two really solid styles of defense tonight,” Thompson said. “I thought their pack line prevented us from getting the ball inside and we worked them full-court which wore them down a little bit. Both teams played solid defense and nobody was getting anything for free. It just ended up working out for them.”

Bailey scored six of Dixon’s last eight points to carry his team into the regional finals. Lodico finished with 12 points for the Hubs, while Aguirre recorded seven points and senior Blake Albers added six points. Gati and senior Noah Griffith combined for seven Hub