BARBERTON — The Heartland Christian Lions knew the challenge of the situation they were facing. And they knew the opponent well. But unfortunately, the Hillsdale Falcons used a strong shooting performance and solid defense to dramatically sneak past the Lions, 58-57, in a Division VII regional final Friday night at Barberton High School.

The Lions close the season with a school-best 22-5 mark and their first trip to the regional championship game. They were trying to become the first Columbiana County boys basketball team to reach the state semifinals since East Liverpool in 1999.

“It has been an incredible year. I’m trying to keep that in perspective,” Heartland coach Josh Scott said. “Only seven teams get to not lose on their last day.”

“It’s been a great season, obviously, this hurts real bad,” senior Corban Seutia said. “We came this far and didn’t expect it. But we have a great team, and I’m just out of words. I’m excited to see how this team can grow.”

Perhaps, adding insult to injury, the Lions lost to the Falcons, 73-54, in the district championship game last year and returned four starters this season.

It was Hillsdale’s first appearance in the regional finals since 1990.

The Falcons (20-7) advance to the state semifinals for the first time. They will play at 2 p.m. March 20 at Wright State University’s Nutter Center. They will meet the winner of Saturday afternoon’s regional final between Kalida and Motpelier.

With the game tied at 56, the Lions turned the ball over under their own basket with just 21 seconds left in the contest. Following a time out, the Falcons drove up court with Troy Bennett scoring a bucket with only 8 seconds remaining, giving the Falcons a 58-56 advantage.

“Costly turnovers were super important,” senior Isaiah Mathews said. “In games like this, every play matters, every possession matters. When you make a mistake, they capitalize on it.”

Without any timeouts remaining, the Lions drove up the court with Collin Kalaher throwing up a shot. The shot was wide, but a foul was called on the Falcons with 0.6 seconds remaining in the game. After Kalaher hit the first shot, the second one hit the front of the rim, and the Falcons swatted the ball up the court to clinch the victory.

“The free throw, that did not lose us this game,” Mathews said. “Collin is a great player, and that doesn’t define our team.”

“It just came down to stops in the end,” Scott said. “We needed to do a better job of getting some stops.”

The Falcons came out on fire as they connected on their first six shots from the floor, jumping out to an early 19-4 lead by the 3:03 mark of the first quarter. A basket by Seutia at the 2:53 mark helped spark a 6-2 run to close the opening period as the Lions faced an 11-point, 21-10 deficit.

Then, following a basket by the Falcons to start the second frame, the Lions roared back with a 14-0 run, helped by forcing six Falcon turnovers and seven points by Brody Conaway. When Jacob Reed connected on the first of two free throws at the 2:41 mark, the Lions grabbed their first lead at 24-23. However, the Falcons answered with a 5-1 run to close the half, holding a 28-25 advantage going into the halftime locker rooms.

“He’s just such a big player on this team. He is an all-around great teammate and a great defender,” Seutia praised Conaway. “He brings so much intensity and energy to this team.”

“It was just defensive stops,” Scott explained what changed in the game for the Lions. “We got out and made them move the ball. We felt like if we could get them to pass the ball and moving it around, then we could get some takes and get some easier shots. To create some offense from our defense.”

The two teams battled back and forth to start the second half until the Falcons enjoyed a 10-3 run to hold a 10-point lead with 1:50 remaining in the third. The Lions trailed by eight at the close of the frame, 44-36.

The Lions made one more desperate charge in the fourth quarter as Seutia connected on consecutive threes and a basket by Reagan Kalaher with 3:04 remaining in the game knotted it up at 46-46. When Mathews connected on a three-pointer at the 2:42 mark, the Lions recaptured the lead at 52-51. A basket by Collin Kalaher gave the Lions a three-point advantage before the Falcons’ Hayden McFadden connected on a trey to tie it at 54-54. The two teams traded baskets in the final minute of the game before the dramatic ending.

“We got forced into trying to make some tough shots,” Scott said. “What makes us special can also be the crux, too. We had guys trying to make plays and maybe took some tougher shots, contested, off-balance, then what they probably should have in the moment. It’s no fault of the kids; they are trying to make plays. We won games playing like that, too.

Conaway led the Lions with 17 points, while Collin Kalaher added 16. Seutia scored 10 points, including two three-pointers.

“I couldn’t be more proud of my team and my teammates,” Seutia said. “I’m definitely not going to forget this experience.”

Kael Lewis led the Falcons in scoring with a game-high 19 points and 10 rebounds, while Hayden McFadden and Lowen Ferguson each tallied 11, including three three-pointers.

HILLSDALE: 21- 7-16-14–58

HEARTLAND: 10-15-11-21–57

HILLSDALE SCORING: Troy Bennett 4 0-0 9, Knox Lewis 3 2-2, 8, Hayden McFadden 5 0-0 11, Lowen Ferguson 4 0-0 11, Kael Lewis 8 3-7 19. TEAM TOTALS: 24, 5-9: 58.

HEARTLAND SCORING: Isaiah Matthews 3 0-0 7, Corban Seutia 4 0-0 10, Collin Kalaher 6 4-6 16, Jack Morgan 1 0-0 2, Brody Conaway 7 2-4 17, Reagan Kalaher 1 0-0 2, Jacob Reed 1 1-2 3. TEAM TOTALS: 23, 7-12: 57.

Three-point goals: Hillsdale 5 (Ferguson 3, Bennett 1, McFadden 1); Hearland 4 (Seutia 2, Mathews 1, Conaway 1)