Cooper Beaty found himself on the bench for most of Tuesday night in foul trouble.

The Plano sophomore was on the court when it mattered most, though, as his three-pointer with 20 seconds remaining coupled with his lay-in at the buzzer gave the Reapers a thrilling 56-54 win over visiting Sandwich on Tuesday night in the Kishwaukee River Conference opener.

Beaty picked up his third foul with 5:15 remaining in the opening quarter. He’d sit until the second half with the Reapers leading 25-21.

“I just had the determination in my mind and I knew we couldn’t lose to Sandwich,” Beaty said. “I had to step up in the game and to make that big shot. And then we get the ball back when they turn it over and Alan Contreras drives and dumps to me on the block and that’s game. Anything can happen in Plano-Sandwich games. It’s always a close game, always fun to watch. I’m just glad we pulled it out with the win.”

Beaty (10 points, 5 rebounds) was whistled for his fourth foul with 43 seconds remaining. Griffin Somlock (27 points) made the ensuing free throws to give Sandwich its first lead at 52-51 since 4-2.

Plano (4-3, 1-0) then turned the ball over. The Reapers sent Somlock to the line again where he made it 54-51. But Beatty’s trey from the corner tied it.

“He’s just figuring it out, and he put so much work in the weight room, got so much stronger,” Plano coach Kyle Kee said. “He’s really struggled to shoot the ball at the start of the year and he’s a great shooter. He put a big arc on that thing and it just dropped in, and was beautiful. And we finally found the skip pass against their 1-3-1. I’m so proud of our guys.”

Contreras (7 assists, 2 points) also got into foul trouble early, picking up his third foul with 1:59 left in the second quarter. EJ Treptow (9 points, 9 rebounds) picked up two fouls in a five-second span, including his fourth with 3:01 left in the third quarter for Sandwich and took a seat.

Senior Kevin Martinez (13 points) led the Reapers in scoring.

“I knew they were going to call all those fouls so I tried to get him to foul me as much as I could,” Martinez said. “There were some different faces because of all the fouls and a lot of tension between the players and I know nervousness.”

Sandwich (1-5, 0-1) looked in trouble early.

An inbounds play trey from Ethan Taxis (12 points) came in the midst of a 10-0 run. The final basket came on a steal and layup from Braylon Schmidt for a 16-4 Reapers lead with 1:27 left in the opening quarter.

The Indians battled all the way back. Somlock’s pull-up jumper 12 seconds before halftime pulled the Indians to within 25-23.

Nick Michalek’s three-pointer midway through the third quarter sliced it to 31-30. Michalek (3 assists, 4 steals, 4 rebounds) scored all 10 of his points in the second half.

“He picked up two fouls in the first and I sat him the rest of the way because I knew we’d need him to score in the second half,” Sandwich coach Matt Chalfin said. “And he’s a really good defender and he was all over Ethan Taxis who is a super talented player.”

Turnovers were significant, because of the 23-14 differential with Sandwich committing more.

“Teams have given us a lot of fits pressing us and I thought we handled it really well for a rivalry game,” Chalfin said. “I thought they did a wonderful job. It’s still too many turnovers, so we’ve got to get better, get those fixed.”