LaCroix made two key plays late in regulation before scoring five points in overtime.
AMHERST - There wasn't any semifinal heartbreak for the Mahar Regional High School boys basketball team this season, thanks largely to Jesse LaCroix.
The senior guard made two gigantic plays to force overtime before scoring five points in the extra four minutes as Mahar defeated Drury 44-43 in a Western Massachusetts Division II semifinal at the Curry Hicks Cage Thursday.
“It wasn't pretty but we'll take whatever we can get,” said LaCroix, who led all scorers with 21 points.
Mahar, which lost the last two seasons in the semifinal round, advanced to the Division II final for the first time in school history. The top-seeded Senators (19-3) will face the South Hadley-Belchertown winner Saturday at 4 p.m. back at the Cage.
No. 4 Drury, which led by seven points in the second quarter, finished 11-9.
The game stayed within four points the entire third and fourth quarter. The tight matchup was tied 33-33 when Robert Jutras (16 points) buried a 3-pointer from the left corner on an inbounds play with 45 seconds remaining in overtime to put Drury ahead 36-33.
Mahar got the ball, and with the shot clock winding down, LaCroix nailed a 3-pointer from the left wing with 17.9 seconds to go.
Drury got a good look in the closing seconds, missed, and LaCroix got the rebound. Drury, however, stripped LaCroix under the hoop and the ball went to a Blue Devils for an apparent easy layup. But LaCroix blocked the shot and the buzzer sounded, sending the game to overtime.
LaCroix sank two free throws and then hit a running jumper as Mahar never trailed in the extra period. Darwin Duncan took a pass from LaCroix and swished a 3-pointer with 43 seconds remaining to put the Senators ahead by four, 43-39.
“Darwin can knock down threes. He knocks them down in practice and has been knocking them down all year,” LaCroix said. “I saw the double team coming and I saw him wide open. I hit him and he hit a big shot. That gave us a four-point lead.”
And a trip to a Western Massachusetts final for the first time in school history.