Sherrard threw the first punch Friday at Lancaster Gym, then Dixon countered.

But the Tigers finished things off down the stretch, surging from a late deficit to top the Dukes 63-61 in a back-and-forth regular-season finale that set the stage for the postseason.

“That’s why we want this game,” Sherrard coach Alex Johnson said. “This is a tough team, a tough environment, a tough game, and I’m proud of our team effort. We’re happy that we got the win, but we’re also happy that we got to play in that type of experience.”

“They’re a good ball club, they’ve been good year in and year out, they’ve had good players, so going into the postseason, you’re going to see the same stuff,” Dixon coach Chris Harmann said. “I think that with this game, I hope it focuses us a little bit more next Wednesday [in the regional semifinals].”

Nolan Kline hit the game-winner with 10 seconds to go for Sherrard (21-7), working into the lane and bouncing in a fadeaway jumper off the back of the rim. Dixon’s Brody Nicklaus then shot a contested 3 that was wide left, and Kline came down with the rebound to seal the win.

“It wasn’t really a set offense, but we’ve been told in practice if we get in that opportunity to just feel free to go take it,” Kline said. “I practice those shots everyday, so I feel like I should’ve just taken it – and I did, and I made it. It felt awesome.”

“It wasn’t drawn up, it was just players making plays,” Johnson confirmed. “Nolan’s a freshman – he’s a very good freshman – and he had a lot of confidence in himself to take that shot. Dixon gets up on you, puts a lot of pressure on you, so it’s tough to execute your offense, but if you’re strong with the ball, you can drive past them and maybe get a shot – and Nolan believed in himself, and I’m really proud that he’s willing to take that shot.”

It spoiled a rally by Dixon (11-17), which trailed 46-37 after a Kline 3-pointer with 3:07 left in the third period. But a 20-5 run over the next eight minutes put the Dukes up 57-51, capped by a Cameron Foulker 3 and a Brody Nicklaus driving layup with 3:22 to play.

“I feel like our energy went up when we got a couple stops. We started to push them on defense and also push our offense,” McGowan said. “I feel like we executed our offense tonight, but our defense wasn’t that good – but we all played together really well and we tried our best.”

The Tigers tied it with a 6-0 spurt, capped by layups from Brylan Bender and Javin Jones, then Nicklaus drove in for another layup before Ryder Veronda responded with a 3 from the left wing for a 60-59 Sherrard lead with 57 seconds remaining.

Brown split two free throws, then Nicklaus hit two to tie the game at 61 with 23.8 seconds to go, setting up Kline’s heroics.

“They shoot it really well as a team overall, and they put you in some tough spots when they’re on offense. I didn’t think we protected the basket as well as we have at times, but part of it is them executing and putting pressure on the defense,” Harmann said. “That’s a really good ball club, those guys play hard, and credit to them tonight, because they took a good punch from us too, and they just kind of pushed past it and finished it off.”

Brody Nicklaus scored 14 of his 18 points in the second half, and he also had four assists and two steals. Xavion Jones had 10 points and three rebounds, McGowan just missed a double-double with eight points, nine rebounds, three assists and two steals, and Jakob Nicklaus added eight points and four boards. Foulker and Beckham Rock each scored six points, and Zander Wilson chipped in five.

“When we slowed things down at times, I thought we got better looks offensively. But defensively, we left guys wide open at times tonight, and it was just lack of communication,” Harmann said. “When you spot good teams eight or 10 points, it’s a hard thing to get out of. I give our kids credit, they didn’t fold, they didn’t quit, we just were a couple possessions short.”

Carter Brown led a balanced Tigers effort with 20 points, four steals and two assists, and Bender added 15 points, eight rebounds, four assists and two steals. Veronda and Kline scored 10 points each, and Jackson Jones added six.

“That’s kind of our motto as a team, that we share the basketball. It doesn’t really matter who gets it, we have a different leading scorer every game, and tonight they did share the ball really well,” Johnson said. “Now, if we can get that defense shored up a little bit, that’s going to help in the playoffs.”