CRYSTAL LAKE – St. Francis’ Sebastian Miller has been making plays for the Spartans for a long time, but the 6-foot-3 senior guard never made one bigger than his shot March 4.

It appeared St. Francis would hold for a late shot with the score tied against Burlington Central, but Miller drove hard into the lane, pulled up and hit a 9-footer with 14 seconds remaining.

Burlington Central had two shots to tie or win but did not convert and saw its best season in school history come to an end as St. Francis came away with a 37-35 win in the Class 3A Crystal Lake South Sectional championship game.

“It was a war, a defensive battle,” St. Francis coach Erin Dwyer said. “Both teams played with a lot of passion. We just made one more play. Honestly, we made one more shot than they did. The result on both sides was amazing.”

Burlington Central coach Brett Porto echoed that sentiment. The Rockets fell short of becoming the first sectional champion in school history.

“[Miller] just made a nice move, got down in the middle of the lane and hit a pull-up, simple as that,” said Porto, whose team finished 31-4. “They just made one more play than us tonight.”

St. Francis (27-8) moved on to the Ottawa Supersectional on March 7 against Metamora, a 68-64 winner over Rock Island in the Bradley University Sectional championship game. It was the Spartans’ first supersectional appearance since 2013.

Burlington’s Gavin Sarvis tied the score at 35 on a driving basket with 42 seconds remaining and was fouled. Sarvis missed the free-throw attempt after the basket, Miller rebounded the ball, and the Spartans called timeout.

Miller scored all of St. Francis’ nine points in the fourth quarter.

“We were just trying to get the best shot available,” Miller said. “We knew they were switching. I had a lot of energy and had some foul trouble coming into the fourth quarter and knew I just needed to make big plays down the stretch. I had a lot of energy being on the bench that long.”

Miller drove right around Sarvis and pulled up without committing a charge to make the shot.

“We were hoping for one shot,” Dwyer said. “I literally turned around and all of a sudden I see him flying in for a layup and I’m like, ‘OK, I guess that worked, too.’ ‘’

Burlington called timeout with 11 seconds to go and inbounded the ball to Sarvis, its best scorer.

“I get the ball. Coach said, ‘It’s in your hands, do what you want with it,’ ‘’ Sarvis said. “I got into the lane and didn’t know what to do so I kicked it out.”

Drew Scharnowski had an open look at a 3-point attempt from the top of the key but missed.

St. Francis called timeout and inbounded the ball deep. The Rockets’ Carson Seyller intercepted and passed to Sarvis just past half court. Sarvis’ last-second 3-point attempt was not close.

“They sagged off us a lot and made us shoot and we didn’t shoot well tonight,” Sarvis said.

Burlington shot 33.3% (12 of 36) from the field.

St. Francis committed 20 turnovers in the game, but the Spartans had a huge 31-13 rebounding advantage.

Miller led all players with 13 points. Sean Killian and Adam Wiborg each added eight points for the Spartans.

Sarvis topped the Rockets with 11 points. Seyller tossed in eight.

Burlington trailed 34-31 with 1:10 remaining, but scored on an inbound alley-oop lob to Sarvis to make it 34-33. After a Miller free throw on the other end, Sarvis dashed downcourt for a layup to tie the game.

“They were big and strong and physical and push you off spots all over the place,” Porto said. “It’s kind of what we thought they would be. Credit to our guys for battling back. Gavin pulled up and kicked it out and we had a chance to win it.”

St. Francis 37, Burlington Central 35

ST. FRANCIS (37)

Brennan 0 0-0 0, Miller 4 4-7 13, Yarusso 1 0-0 3, Rowlan 1 0-02, Killian 3 2-2 8, Wiborg 4 0-0 8, Kiesler 0 0-0 0, McMillen 1 1-2 3. Totals: 14 7-11 37.

BURLINGTON CENTRAL (35)

Sarvis 3 1-4 11, Seyller 2 4-5 8, Carpenter 1 2-2 4, Scharnowski 2 2-2 6, Schmidt 1 1-2 3, Wagner 1 0-0 3. Totals: 12 10-15 35.

St. Francis 11 4 13 9 – 37

Burlington Central 10 8 10 7 – 35

3-point goals: St. Francis 2 (Miller, Yarusso), Burlington Central 1 (Wegnar). Total fouls: St. Francis 14, Burlington Central 14.