Gabe Sanders dribbled out the final seconds of Friday’s game, flung the ball high and joined a scrum of Yorkville teammates and student fans at midcourt.

Thirteenth-seeded Yorkville is the lowest seed remaining in the entire Class 4A bracket. The Foxes have not played like it this week.

And made history Friday.

Sanders scored nine of his team-high 18 points in the first quarter. Multiple teammates had their own flurry of big moments.

The Foxes never trailed after the first point of the game, beating fifth-seeded Downers Grove South 57-40 in the Class 4A Naperville North Regional final for Yorkville’s first regional title in 21 years.

“It’s amazing. It’s a feeling that nobody here knows,” said Sanders, one of four Yorkville seniors. “Now that it happens, it feels good. We’ve had some ups and downs this season, but obviously it clicked here today.”

Yorkville (16-12), which knocked off Naperville North on its home floor Wednesday and West Suburban Gold champ Downers Grove South on Friday, advances to play defending state champ Benet on Tuesday at Bolingbrook.

“I just said to one of my assistants, I’m like, ‘I can’t believe this is real right now,’ ” Yorkville coach John Holakovsky said. “At one point this season it felt like such an uphill climb.”

Alonn Flint added 12 points, Joey Jakstys had eight points, four rebounds and three steals, Graham Martinson eight points and Braydon Porter seven points and six rebounds for Yorkville.

Adam Flowers led Downers Grove South (24-8) with 25 points.

Yorkville was a team with unrealized potential throughout the season. The Foxes have two potential Division I prospects in sophomores Porter and Jakstys. Sanders and Frankie Pavlik were returning senior guards.

But the Foxes were hit by a rash of illnesses and injuries early. They went two weeks without their full starting five intact in practice in December and lost six straight games. The group came back in January and reset the second half of the season.

The Foxes held two opponents to 40 points this week, Downers Grove South its season-low.

“We got the brackets, Downers Grove South and Naperville North are really good teams, but we avoided the big three in our sectional,” Holakovsky said. “We didn’t want to see Oswego or Oswego East again – we just wanted to see someone new.

“Having a new reset, not having a prior history with those eight days before games, set us on a good path. We had four or five outstanding practices, best all year, and we followed it up with our two best defensive performances.”

Sanders scored seven of his nine first-quarter points during a 12-0 run after Downers Grove South scored the game’s first point.

“As a senior, I wanted to give it my all in case it was my last game,” Sanders said.

The lefty guard and Yorkville’s best shooter hit his first 3-pointer in three career playoff games, but he also was aggressive to the basket. He also had a team-best nine rebounds.

“When he’s moving, when he’s cutting, when he’s driving to the rim, he’s at his best,” Holakovsky said. “There’s times where he gets in a rut where he’s so worried about his 3.”

Martinson took the torch in the second quarter with eight points for a 24-13 halftime lead, and Jakstys had seven in the third.

“It was a hell of a game by so many guys,” Holakovsky said. “Different guys stepped up at different times.”

Meanwhile, Downers Grove South looked like a team carrying the weight of a favored seed. The Mustangs turned the ball over six times in the first quarter and missed three of four free throws to trail 14-5.

“I could tell right away, it almost felt like our guys felt more pressure on us than there needed to be,” Downers Grove South coach Zach Miller said. “They got a couple early easy ones that got their feet wet, and we were in quicksand.

“We just weren’t like us.”

Flowers put his team on his back in the third quarter, scoring Downers Grove South’s first 15 points out of halftime.

The Mustangs twice cut the margin to six, first on Erik Vagonis’ tip dunk and the second time 38-32 with 1:15 left in the third. But the Foxes hit them with an 11-0 run and never looked back.

“It just seemed like we were playing catch-up tonight,” Miller said. “In a game like this, where emotions are high, tough to put yourself in a hole. There’s only so much in the tank.”

Flint, a senior guard known more for his defense, scored 10 of his 12 points in the fourth quarter. His 3-pointer gave the Foxes their biggest lead at the time, 49-32.

“I knew my time was coming,” Flint said. “Normally after halftime, that’s when I get going.”

Flowers, in his final season, led Downers Grove South to its third straight Gold title. He shot 9 for 19, but the Mustangs’ other players shot just 4 for 24, and the team was 3 for 19 from 3.

“He did everything for us this season,” Miller said. “He took these younger guys under his wing. You talk about high character, high school basketball, that’s what you want.”