With the Streator boys basketball team up two points on Plano and with the ball out of bounds at half court with 10 seconds remaining, senior forward Joe Hoekstra set a pick at the top of the key, then headed toward the basket.

With the Reapers scrambling looking for a steal, Hoekstra found himself all alone, caught the inbounds pass and laid the ball in to seal the Bulldogs’ 55-49 victory at what will be the final day of the Dean Riley Shootin’ The Rock Thanksgiving Tournament.

Saturday’s games were canceled due to the projected heavy snowstorm.

“Yeah, that really felt good,” Hoekstra said of the final hoop that helped Streator (1-2) to its first win of the season. ”It was nice to be the one who was able to get that one."

Hoekstra – who played all 32 minutes, hit 6-of-10 from the field and snared five offensive rebounds – said his focus coming into the game was actually when the Reapers were on offense.

“My main focus coming into this game was to really lock down on the defensive end,” Hoekstra said. “I wanted to make sure I was always looking to help if someone got beat. [Streator head coach Beau Doty] is always stressing team defense, so I was just trying to step up a little more than I had the first two games and be part of that.

“The stats and stuff are nice, but I’m happier we were able to play pretty well at the end and get the win.”

Streator — which hit 21-of-53 (40%) shots from the field and dominated the rebound battle 46-24 — was led by Brennan Stillwell’s 15 points and five rebounds, while Riley Stevens added 10 points and nine rebounds.

The contest was tied 38-all entering the fourth quarter. Streator grabbed the lead for good on a 3-pointer to start the period by Colin Myers. With under a minute to play, three straight free throws by Plano’s Ethan Taxis closed the margin to 51-49. Following Hoekstra’s hoop, two free tosses by Byers closed out the scoring.

“We hadn’t been in that position [holding a lead late] yet as a varsity team, and you can’t learn how to handle those moments until you are able to go through them,” Streator coach Beau Doty said. “We had a couple of turnovers there in the final minute or so, but then we’d come back with a great defensive stand.

“For the most part we were able to take advantage of our overall size, especially Riley, Brennan and Joe. All three of those guys were huge for us on both ends of the floor. We really hit the glass hard and were able to convert a number of second chances at the rim.”

Plano — which dropped to 0-3 — was led by a game-best 21 points from Taxis, while Alan Contreras (three assists) and Cooper Beaty (three rebounds) each had seven points. Finley Winter and Kevin Martinez each had a team-high seven rebounds.

The Reapers were 20-of-54 (37%) from the field and just 4-of-11 from the foul line.

“The first game here this week (against Oak Forest), we just weren’t ready to play. We have a a lot of younger guys who were playing their first varsity game. Then earlier today against La Salle-Peru I thought we competed, and the effort was even better against Streator,” Plano coach Kyle Kee said. “This was the first game that I felt we played aggressively, and this how I expect us to play this season. We are a work in progress.

“We were able to finally knock down some shots in the second half, but just weren’t able to take the lead away from Streator. Free throws really hurt us.”

Streator will be back in action Friday hosting Peotone in the teams’ Illinois Central Eight Conference opener. Plano returns to the floor Monday at Hinckley-Big Rock.