In the final minute of Friday night’s boys basketball game against Joliet Central, Plainfield South’s Isaiah Robertson put the exclamation point on the Cougars’ 49-42 Southwest Prairie Conference win with a dunk.

It gave Robertson - a 6-foot-6 junior - nine points to go with his team-high nine rebounds and squelched any idea the Steelmen had of a comeback.

“Our guards did a good job of looking for me,” said Robertson, who scored five points in the first quarter. “They are really good shooters, too, and if they have a shot, they’ll take it. But I always try to get open in case they need to get it to me.

“Rebounding is a big part of my game. We do a lot of drills at practice that are all about rebounding, and I just want to get every rebound when the ball goes up. We’re always getting better, and we’re better now than we were at the start of the season.”

Plainfield South (9-18, 5-10) got out to a 9-6 lead late in the first quarter, but Joliet Central (4-25, 2-13) scored four straight points - a pair of free throws by BJ Fox (12 points, six rebounds) and a basket by James Lee (game-high 21 points, seven rebounds) - to take a 10-9 lead. South’s Ayden Foston (team-high 17 points) scored before the buzzer to give the Cougars an 11-10 lead after one quarter.

Joliet Central went ahead 15-14 early in the second on a 3-pointer by Fox, but South countered with a 7-0 run, sparked by five points off the bench by Brandon Poole, who finished with nine points along with Robertson and Brayden Ablin.

The Steelmen closed to within 24-21 late in the second quarter on a basket by Lee, but Ablin scored just before halftime to give South a 26-21 lead at intermission.

“We finally got our defense going,” South coach Jeff Howard said. “Our offensive IQ wasn’t the greatest at times, but we were able to get some stops on defense that led to offense, and we stretched the lead out.

“Overall, we got stops when we needed them, and we made shots when we needed to. Our guards got going too fast at times, but they did a good job overall. Brandon Poole got some big baskets for us. He has great length and also plays great defense, so we don’t lose a lot when he replaces Isaiah.

“I like where we’re at heading into the postseason.”

Joliet Central rallied again early in the third quarter, trimming the South lead to 30-28 after a basket by Lee.

Khalil Truman delivered an old-fashioned three-point play for South after getting a steal and being fouled on the ensuing layup, but Fox drained a 3-pointer to pull the Steelmen to within 33-31. South ended the quarter with a steal and layup by Foston and a putback bucket by Robertson to take a 37-31 lead into the fourth.

The Cougars stretched their lead to 46-35 with just over 1:30 remaining, but the Steelmen did not go quietly. Lee made a pair of free throws and then scored a basket to make it 46-38 with 56.5 seconds left.

The Steelmen forced a turnover, and 6-6 freshman Revell Gilbert (eight points, nine rebounds) scored a putback to cut the lead to 46-40 with 38.5 seconds left. Robertson put it away with his dunk a few seconds later.

“We were able to chip away at the lead, but never quite got over the hump,” Joliet Central coach Lawrence Thompson, Jr. said. “Plainfield South is very physical. They have a lot of length and cause a lot of problems around the basket. We needed better 3-point shooting, but that’s not our strength.

“Our strength is hustle, playing together as a team and not giving up. We did those things tonight. It was nice to see Revell Gilbert have a good game. He’s a hard-working kid and is getting better.”