HAMPSHIRE – Patrick Mayfield treats his free throws in practice like the game depends on whether or not he makes them.

They did Friday.

In a wild finish, Johnsburg star guard Zach Toussaint dished a dynamite pass underneath to Joey Comstock to take the one-point lead on Burlington Central with 11.4 seconds remaining.

Mayfield, already with 12 points in the fourth quarter, nearly lost the handle on a dump pass from Braden Seyller out of the ensuing inbounds pass. Corralling it, Mayfield drove toward the basket into a host of Skyhawks, forcing contact.

His practice moments suddenly became real with 2.5 seconds left.

Mayfield, Burlington Central's 6-foot-5 senior guard, sunk both pressure free throws for a dramatic 72-71 win, and in the process kept Johnsburg from a share of the Kishwaukee River Conference title.

"In the gym, I always pretend like there's one second left or something," said Mayfield, who scored 27 points and grabbed five rebounds. "And, I always have to knock those two [practice] free throws down or I do conditioning right after that."

"Obviously, [tonight] it's louder and in the [practice] gym, it's silent. I thought it too: 'It's just like the gym. You do these all the time. Knock both of them down easy.'"

An ensuing turnover from Johnsburg (15-11, 8-3) sunk their chances of getting the last shot off. That, and the foul on Mayfield, hurt.

"I can see a blatant call, but it was...My defender did exactly like we teach him to do," Johnsburg coach Mike Toussaint said of the crucial foul call. "It didn't go our way and that happens."

A Mayfield steal on Toussaint's drive and transition layup as the third quarter was drawing to a close foreshadowed the game would come down to which star player would have the ball last.

Toussaint dominated the first half, scoring 22 of his 32 points, as Johnsburg took a four-point lead on Burlington Central (19-8, 7-2) into halftime.

Toussaint knocked in an ankle-breaking three-pointer and layup to inch the Skyhawks ahead 57-50. Three minutes later, Seyller edged in a tough layup and sunk an open three-pointer out of an inbound pass to tie it at 61-61.

Seyller had 13 points and four rebounds, while Jake Lenschow had 10 points.

The Rockets and Skyhawks traded leads and Mayfield knocked in another three to go ahead 69-67 with 1:31 remaining.

After two Johnsburg misses, Rockets guard Logan Andersen made one of two free throws. Toussaint's drive and score with a minute left pulled the Skyhawks within one at 70-69.

Mayfield's backcourt violation preceded Johnsburg's go-ahead shot, but he more than made up for his mistake.

"We haven't had a game like that this year where we were down in the second half by double digits [and] came back and won," Rockets coach Brett Porto said. "So, It's nice now to put that in your back pocket."

Jonathan Preston finished with 12 points, while Comstock had eight for the Skyhawks.

While visibly gutted with the shocking loss postgame, Toussaint held his head high amid difficult circumstances.

"No team has ever won a conference championship at Johnsburg, so going into the game we knew that if we won it, we'd win the conference championship or at least a share of it," Toussaint said. "I wanted it so bad. So, now got a game tomorrow...hopefully get back tomorrow."