The last time Rock Falls and Princeton met was for the sectional championship a year ago with the Rockets winning by six points.

While it didn’t have the bright lights of the big stage this time, the Rockets and Tigers played as just a competitive game to the last shot with Rock Falls escaping with a 61-58 win at Prouty Gym in Princeton.

“It’s always a wonderful atmosphere here and a tough place to play for an opposing team,” Rock Falls coach Zach Sandrock said. “Yeah, it was a great game. Great experience for the end game with both teams having some experience. We’ve been in a lot of close games where we’ve given up some leads, so it was nice tonight to see us finish one.”

For the Tigers, it was another close game that got away.

“Again, we came out on the short end of the stick. I thought both teams competed hard,” Tigers coach Jason Smith said. “It was pretty well played game for the most part. We just kind of find ways to beat ourselves a little bit. We talked about how many missed opportunities we had at the rim and I think that’s what cost us the game tonight. I think if we make half of them we win by 10.

“We missed so many layups and two-foot shots. Those are tough to overcome because those are like turnovers. Especially when they go and score at the other end.”

Gavin Lanham gave the Tigers 47-46 lead with a 4:05 remaining with a runner in the lane on an assist by Jack Oester. A basket by Phillip Griffith Jr. inside the arc from the right corner and a drive and a 3-pointer by Cole Heald pushed the Rockets out to a 56-49 lead with just over a minute remaining.

Senior Jackson Mason hit a pair of 3s, the first at the 1:05 mark and the second with 18.9 left to pull the Tigers within 60-55. Freshman hot shot Julian Mucha nailed his fourth 3 of the game to bring the Tigers back to 60-58 with 7.3 seconds left.

After Griffith Jr. hit the back end of two free throws to run the Rockets lead to three, the Tigers pushed the ball up to Mason, who fired behind the arc from the left wing, but hit the front of the iron.

“I wanted that one to go,” Mason said. “I think we wanted this one. Give them that punch in the face and show we’re not Princeton of old.”

Mason was especially pleased to see the Tigers stick with the Rockets in the second half.

“We finally didn’t choke in the third quarter,” he said. “I thought we held our ground pretty good. We’ve had a third-quarter curse this whole season.”

The Tigers led by as much as five (21-15) early in the second quarter and led by one point late in the third quarter and early in the fourth, but couldn’t extend the lead.

“That’s the problem. We couldn’t extend it,” Smith said. “We couldn’t put back-to-back stops when we had the lead. I thought that was important. The effort was there, the heart was there. But the execution’s got to be better.”

Sandrock said both teams are in similar spots coming off of last year’s Sweet 16 meeting.

“We’re talented, but graduated a lot of experience,” he said. “Jason does a great job at Princeton. We’ve got a good relationship. I trust him to get his boys ready by the end of the year. That’s our hope. Just prepare the boys for the end of the year. Regional time is what counts. We’re going to continue to push and make some adjustments. That’s the biggest thing.”

Heald led the Rockets (7-12) with 17 points, with Owen Mandrell adding 15 and Z’viyon Martin and Griffith Jr. scoring 10 each.

Mason finished with a game-high 18 points for the Tigers (3-13), while Mucha netted 14.

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Princeton's Gavin Lanham brings the ball upcourt in Tuesday's game at Prouty Gym. The Rockets won 61-58. (Mike Vaughn)