Life’s a beach under the basket for Lemont’s Miles Beachum. His rebound downs Marian Catholic. ‘Smooth and cool.’

It almost seems to be a habit, but Lemont’s Miles Beachum usually ends up in the right place at the right time. Part of that can be credited to his savvy on offensive rebounds.

So, when senior guard Matas Castillo took a potential game-winning shot in the closing seconds Wednesday night but knew it was off, he really wasn’t too worried.

“He’s always in the paint,” Castillo said of Beachum, a 6-foot-2 senior forward. “I knew if I missed, I could count on Miles. He’s an undersized big man and makes hustle plays.”

Indeed, Castillo’s shot failed to hit iron.

But Beachum was there to catch the ball and put in his first basket of the game, lifting Lemont to a wild 39-37 win over Marian Catholic in a Class 3A Hillcrest Sectional semifinal.

Second-seeded Lemont (28-6) will take a 12-game winning streak into a 7 p.m. Friday tipoff against top-seeded Hillcrest (28-3) for the sectional title.

Castillo scored 13 points and his twin brother, Rokas, added nine for Lemont, which last suffered a loss on Jan. 17 in a 57-39 setback to Hillcrest. The Castillo twins did not play.

Quentin Jones scored 14 points in defeat for Marian Catholic (26-8). The Spartans were knocked out of the playoffs last season by Lemont in the regional final.

Beachum, meanwhile, just took one other shot Wednesday — a miss.

The second shot, though, was golden as the ball rolled around the rim a couple of times before falling dramatically through.

“Oh my gosh, I saw it rolling and I thought we were going to overtime,” Beachum said. “But it rolled in, and I just blacked out from there.”

Beachum lives in Lemont but spent two years at Morgan Park Academy. He wanted to play at a school where basketball had more importance.

His first game in a Lemont uniform had an eerily similar scenario to Wednesday as the team opened the 2021-22 season with a 56-55 loss in the WJOL Tournament.

“It was Rokas who took the shot, I had the same play, and the shot rolled out,” Beachum said. “This was a different outcome this time.”

Lemont coach Rick Runaas, who praised Beachum for always being cool under pressure, relayed a story from Tuesday’s practice to illustrate his point.

“We were doing a five-on-five scrimmage and I wanted to artificially tie the game,” Runaas said. “So I said, ‘Watch, I’m going to call a travel on Miles right here.’

“Miles comes roaring down the baseline and I blew the whistle. Miles just looked at me, got back, and he was like, ‘Play on, play on.’ Smooth and cool.”

The Spartans, who entered with a 13-1 record in their last 14 games, forced a 37-37 tie in the fourth quarter as Jonah Weathers hit a 3-pointer with 1:33 left.

Both teams traded turnovers, with Lemont calling a timeout in the closing minute to set up the final play.

“We defended the play well,” Marian Catholic coach Mike Taylor said. “But you have to finish. Out of 30 seconds, we did well for 29 of them.

“I’m proud of them. It was a great season for these guys. These seniors won a lot of games in three years. But it still hurts.”

Beachum can relate. He’s looking at Fordham and New York University for academics and would like to get their attention for basketball, too.

“He’s the smartest player on the team,” Runaas said. “I hope he can play after high school. For us, he has a role. Sometimes, he gets a rebound and kicks the ball out because he knows the other guys are better shooters.

“He not only knows his role for us — he relishes it.”

Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.