Surprising Aurora Christian opens fourth quarter with Brayden Hatch to advance to sectional final. ‘It feels great.’

Brayden Hatch had to bide his time behind a senior-heavy lineup for Aurora Christian.

He continued to put in the work last season, knowing eventually his time would come.

“You just have to be patient,” Hatch said. “Slow down, especially in times like this, and remember that you worked for all of this. It’s not letting all that pressure build up.

“I was able to relax and do my thing.”

All of Hatch’s patience was rewarded in Tuesday’s Class 2A Johnsburg Sectional semifinal.

The senior guard scored the first seven points for the Eagles in the fourth quarter and then set up Cam Morel for the decisive two baskets in a 48-45 win over Northridge Prep.

“It feels great,” Hatch said. “It feels like all the work and all the things I’ve been through pay off. It feels great to come out with the win, especially a tough one like this.”

Even though the general public may not have known about him coming into the season, Aurora Christian coach Dan Beebe and his staff knew what they had in Hatch.

“He was good from the start,” Beebe said. “There were so many good kids in front of him. You knew what you were getting. You hope that he would evolve into a senior role, take that leadership role that he hasn’t had.

“That was something he had to transition into. Now playing more minutes but have to be a leader, too. He’s done a great job — he really has.”

Hatch and Morel each scored 14 points to lead the Eagles (22-12). Jonah Fairbank also had 14 for Northridge Prep (24-10) and TJ Gorman added 11.

Aurora Christian, which advances to play at 7 p.m. Friday against Montini (7-23) or Rockford Lutheran (24-9) for the sectional title, trailed 38-36 going into the fourth.

Hatch, however, quickly forced a tie with a layup and then hit a 3-pointer with 5:40 left for a 41-38 lead. After falling behind by a point, the Eagles inched ahead 43-42 as Hatch hit two free throws with 2:14 left.

After another tie, Hatch had one of his five steals and passed the ball to Morel, who missed the initial layup but put back his own miss to give the Eagles the lead for good.

“Cam’s a gamer,” Beebe said. “He’s a kid that likes the big moments. Brayden likes the big moments. You have to have that from your upperclassmen.”

For good measure, Hatch found Morel for a layup and free throw with 10 seconds left to build a 48-43 lead.

“I used to play point guard, so it kind of kicked in there in the fourth quarter,” Hatch said. “Dribble, drive and kick, find open teammates, stuff like that.”

After trailing by five at halftime and shooting primarily 3-pointers, Aurora Christian got back into the game by pounding the ball inside.

Grant Keppy, the tallest player for the Eagles at 6-foot-6, scored all seven of his points in the third quarter. Morel added three 3-pointers to keep them in the game.

“We said coming in, if we play the game above the free-throw line offensively, we’re in trouble,” Beebe said. “Second half, we played it below the free-throw line.”

The Eagles also play three freshmen and underclassmen who had barely any previous varsity experience. That makes this run even more noteworthy in Beebe’s eyes.

“Nobody had any expectations for us,” he said. “We weren’t the hunted anymore. We were the hunter. We got to be low key.

“For this group to get 22 wins and a regional championship to this point is nothing short of impressive.”

Paul Johnson is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.