“I’m really proud of how the guys stuck it out,” Knights head coach Ryan Mangini said postgame. “We knew Iroquois would be tough. We got away from our style in the second half and lost some confidence, but we will get it back before Tuesday.”

That’s when Eisenhower will meet Corry — which defeated Mercer — in the district championship game at a time and place to be determined.

“Corry is a good, disciplined team,” Mangini said. “We have to stay focused. They are playing some good basketball right now.”

The same could be said for Austin Hanson, who was brilliant from start to finish, drilling six 3-pointers and connecting on four of five free throws, including the deciding ones in the closing moments of the second extra session.

Hanson hits the game winning free throw to lift the Knights to a 67-66 double-overtime victory. Times Observer photo by Steve Younger

The Knights led 21-13 after the first quarter, 36-26 at halftime and 46-41 after three quarters, and then things got really interesting.

In the fourth quarter, the Braves tied the game at 56-all on a bucket by Christian Fleming with 1:07 remaining, but he missed the ensuing free throw and the score remained that way the rest of the period after Austin Hanson’s 3-point attempt at the buzzer was just off the mark.

In the first overtime, Austin Hanson scored all four points for the Knights while Fleming and Kellen Burrows had a bucket apiece for Iroquois to force a second OT.

The Braves jumped out to a four-point lead, but then Austin Hanson went to work.

His 3-pointer at the 2:15 mark cut the deficit to 64-63 before Aden Satterfield made one of two free throws to give Iroquois a 65-63 lead with 1:26 remaining. Satterfield was fouled again and made one of two charity tosses just over 30 seconds later to extend the Braves’ advantage to 65-62 at the 53-second mark.

Austin Hanson answered with a hoop, cutting the margin to 65-64 with 30 seconds left, and then Eisenhower forced a turnover, which led to Mangini calling a timeout with 27 seconds remaining. After the stoppage of play, Austin Hanson waited for an opening and drove to the basket where his shot rolled around the rim, but wouldn’t drop. Fouled on the play, however, he calmly made both free throws to put the Knights in front 67-66 with 15.1 seconds remaining.

“I didn’t let the moment get too big,” he said. “Being nervous will only bring bad results.”

The Braves had a couple of shots from deep in the closing moments, but they didn’t fall, allowing Eisenhower to escape with the win.

Joining Austin Hanson in double figures were Liam Hanson with 12 points and Kymani Vine with 11.

For Iroquois, Burrows led the way with 24 points, Fleming had 13 and Cole Bennett chipped in 10.

IROQUOIS (66)

Satterfield 3 3 9, Lopez 1 0 3, Bennett 4 0 10, Brieger 3 1 7, Fleming 4 4 13, Burroughs 11 2 24, Totals 26 10 66.

EISENHOWER (67)

Vine 5 1 11, AHanson 13 4 36, Guiher 0 3 3, Benton 1 1 3, LHanson 5 1 12, WMandeville 0 0 0, PMandeville 1 0 2, Totals 25 10 67.

3-point goals — Lopez, Bennett 2, Fleming, AHanson 6, LHanson.

Iroquois 13 13 15 15 4 6 — 66

Eisenhower 21 15 10 10 4 7 — 67