By Bobby Narang
The Aurora Christian High School boys basketball season ended a magical ride in the most desired place – Champaign.
The Eagles made an improbable run to the Class 1A State tournament at the State Farm Center on the campus of the University of Illinois.
Coached by Dan Beebe, the Eagles built off last season’s defeat to Rockford Lutheran in a sectional championship game by opening the season with six straight wins, enduring a tough stretch in January, and starting another streak to make a run at the State title.
The Eagles entered their State semifinal against Winchester West Central with a seven-game winning streak, including a victory over Pecatonica in a thrilling overtime victory in the supersectional to advance to the State tournament for the seventh time in program history.
The Eagles, who finished in fourth place in 2020, rode a group of sophomores that included Jalen Carter, Marshawn Cocroft, Asa Johnson and Jacob Baumann, along with senior forward Cam Morel, to new heights.
But even with a game-high 36 points from Carter, the Eagles dropped a 70-65 double-overtime thriller to Winchester West Central Thursday, March 7. A few hours later, the Eagles suffered a 44-43 defeat to Hope Academy in the third-place game.
In the semifinals, the Eagles were unable to score in the final four minutes of the second overtime. Cocroft had a memorable State debut, putting an electric performance to lead all scorers while adding six rebounds, three assists and shooting 4-for-9 on 3-pointers to keep the Eagles in the game.
“The college court helped a lot,” Cocroft said. “There was really good space. They weren’t helping a lot, so I scored on layups and eventually they were hedging a lot, so I was shooting threes as well.”
The fourth-place trophy marks the program’s fourth top-four finish, with a second-place effort in 1995 in Class A as the high mark.
“I know it’s the toughest loss probably for every one of us,” Beebe said. “I’m so, so proud of them. They’ve been resilient all year. In four of the five past games, we’ve been deep in terms of getting down. Three of them have gone to overtime. They’ve been incredibly resilient. Sometimes the ball just doesn’t go your way and you can’t make shots.”
The Eagles (25-10) made a valiant run, prompting Beebe to reflect on the journey of the program since 2020. In the that season, the Eagles were unable to participate in the State tournament due to COVID leading to a complete shutdown while the Class 1A and 2A State qualifying teams were at the State tournament ready to participate in Peoria.
“I’m not a super emotional guy, but after the supersectional game, I let a lot out,” Beebe said. “One for the kids’ sake because they worked so hard to get here, and two because COVID was tough. It was tough to go into that hotel room, coming off a 27-point win in the supersectional against the 35-0 No. 1 team in the state and tell the kids the season was over. So, it was emotional to get back here.”