RURAL STREATOR – The worst time for an Illinois high school basketball team to hit a cold streak is when the weather begins to warm up.

That, unfortunately, is what happened to the sixth-seeded Woodland Warriors, who lost their fourth straight game and had their season come to a sudden close Monday evening in the quarterfinals of the Class 1A Lexington Regional with a 44-41 upset loss to 13th-seeded Cornerstone Christian at the Warrior Dome.

“It’s a long season, and I just tried telling the kids, these last three games don’t define what we’ve accomplished,” Woodland coach Connor Kaminke said. “It’s going to be hard to get this out of our minds, but we had an unbelievable season, the kids worked their butts off.

“It just stinks we’ve got to go out like that.”

“I just tried telling the kids, these last three games don’t define what we’ve accomplished. It’s going to be hard to get this out of our minds, but we had an unbelievable season, the kids worked their butts off. It just stinks we’ve got to go out like that.”

—  Connor Kaminke, Woodland boys basketball coach

Nick Plesko had 14 points, nine rebounds and four assists and Connor Dodge 10 points for Woodland, which finished its season 17-14. Single-season 3-point record-holder Tucker Hill added six points on two 3s and Jonathan Moore five points with four assists and three steals.

The Cyclones, now 12-20, advance on to the host site for a Wednesday night semifinal versus Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley.

“It’s frustrating missing a lot of short bunnies, but defense is something we preach,” Cornerstone coach John Schippert said. “That’s what’s going to win for us. I mean, keeping a team to 41 points, you’ve got a really good shot of winning the game.”

As had been the case in its two previous losses, Woodland’s ability to make shots simply dried up at the wrong time Monday. After a respectable opening-quarter shooting performance – making 6 of 14 attempts led by Plesko’s nine points – had the Warriors ahead 14-12 at the end of one quarter, Woodland managed just five points in both the second and third quarters. During those middle periods, the hosts were 3 of 23 from the field, 3 of 7 from the free-throw line and 1 of 8 from 3-point distance.

“I think we scored 10 points in the middle two quarters and had maybe three field goals,” Kaminke said. “I think there was a stretch there where we missed six layups in a row, great looks at the rim that just didn’t fall. Thankfully we guarded well enough to sustain some of those runs, but [Cornerstone] made enough plays to get a lead.

“We had one little burst there at the end. It just wasn’t enough.”

Despite that, the Warriors found themselves behind by only three points, 27-24, heading into the fourth quarter. They tied it 27-27 on a Connor Dodge 3-pointer just under two minutes into the final quarter, but Cornerstone Christian’s Will Thoma (10 points, nine rebounds, four assists) answered with an interior bucket just 14 seconds later to put the Cyclones back ahead. It was a lead the visitors would hold onto despite clutch buckets down the stretch from Moore, Kenny Eutsey, Plesko and Hill.

Woodland shot 7 of 11 in the fourth quarter, but it couldn’t make up for the Warriors’ 33.3% shooting (16 of 48) on the night, including 31.6% (6 of 19) from 3-point range and not including their 42.9% clip (3 of 7) from the free-throw line.

Cornerstone Christian didn’t shoot much better – 36.6% (15 of 41) from the field, 11.1% (1 of 9) from the 3-point arc and 56.5% (13 of 23) from the free-throw line – but it was just enough to carry the Cyclones into the next round and end the winningest season for a Woodland squad since 2012-13.

“I give all the credit to our seniors,” Kaminke said of Eutsey, Hill, Moore, Brayden Follmer, Logan Steinquist and Isaac Follmer. “Our program and culture are where they’re at thanks to them.”