Stepping to the free throw line in a tight game with very little time on the clock would cause most basketball players to be nervous.

Wilmington’s Keeley Walsh is not one of those players.

For the third game in a row on Monday night, Walsh was at the line for the Wildcats in a close game. This time, they were tied with the host school in the Class 2A Seneca Regional semifinal and Walsh was fouled while bringing the ball up the court. In Wilmington’s previous two games - a one-point win over Manteno last Monday and a two-point decision over Dwight the following night - Walsh was at the line and came through with the winning point.

The result was the same Monday night, as Walsh made the first of two free throws with 2.5 seconds remaining. That was all she needed. She missed the second free throw and Seneca’s Tessa Krull grabbed the rebound and called timeout with 2.0 seconds left. A desperation 3-pointer by Seneca’s Graysen Provance fell short, and Wilmington (21-10) won 47-46 to advance to Thursday’s 6 p.m. title game against Manteno, which beat Peotone 48-16 in the other semifinal.

“This is the third game in a row that I have been in that situation,” Walsh said. “I didn’t feel any pressure since I am kind of used to it. I was just calm and did what I normally do.

“We knew we were going to be in a dog fight tonight, playing them on their own floor. Now, we just want to take the momentum from this game and use it in our next game. We split with Manteno during the regular season, so we know they can be beat.”

Walsh finished tied with teammate Sami Liaromaitis with game scoring honors with 14 points, while Nina Egizio added nine. Liaromaitis had a game-high 12 rebounds as well. Graysen Provance led Seneca (13-18) with 12 points, while Krull added 10 points. Both had six rebounds as well.

Seneca got off to a hot start, taking an 8-5 lead after a basket by Elsa Douglas. Wilmington countered with a 9-3 run to close the first quarter with a 14-11 lead, getting six points from Liaromaitis and a 3-pointer from Egizio in the spurt.

The Wildcats pushed out to a 21-13 lead midway through the second quarter, but Seneca responded with a 6-0 run before halftime to close the gap to 21-19 at intermission. Gracie Smith scored four points in the run, while Camryn Stecken (7 points) made a pair of free throws.

Wilmington got a 3-pointer from Walsh to start the second half for a 24-19 lead, but Seneca got back-to-back baskets from Krull to make it 24-23. Wilmington got a basket from Liaromaitis and a pair of free throws each from Egizio and Melia Hincherick (4 points) to take a 30-24 lead. Seneca then got a fast-break layup from Provance and a pair of free throws by Kylee Rowley to trim the gap to 30-28. With 52 seconds left in the third, Provance drained a 3-pointer to tie the game at 33, but Wilmington’s Lexi Strohm made a 3-pointer just before the end of the period to send the Wildcats into the fourth with a 36-33 lead.

Seneca got a basket from Krull to start the fourth, then Provance converted an old-fashioned three-point play to put the Irish ahead 38-36. Walsh tied it with a driving basket before Liaromaitis connected on her only 3-point attempt of the game for a 41-38 lead. A 3-pointer by Taylor Stefancic with 2:35 remaining put Wilmington ahead 46-42. Provance scored on a putback basket with 1:02 remaining.

The Seneca defense forced a turnover with 21.3 seconds left, and Stecken hit a baseline jumper with 4.6 remaining to tie it at 46. Walsh was fouled while bringing the ball up the court to set up her deciding free throw.

“Our previous two games were almost exactly like this,” Wilmington coach Eric Dillon said. “And they ended the same way, with Keeley making at least one of her free throws to give us the win.

“It was an almost too familiar scenario, but the girls have done a good job all year of not letting a moment get to them. More often than not, they have been able to remain calm and play for each other. They just find a way to win.”

Despite the final score, Seneca coach Josh Myers was happy with the way his team performed.

“We thought we had a good chance,” Myers said. “But, when we would get it to tied or take a lead, they always had an answer. We had momentum. We were down four with 50 seconds left and they were stalling. We were able to get a couple stops and tie it, but they made the free throw when they needed to.

“Wilmington did a good job of controlling the tempo. We wanted to play fast, but they were able to slow us down. We were a little faster in the fourth quarter. We always want to try to get the ball down low, and the girls did a really good job of finding Tessa in the second half. I’ll never fault our girls’ effort.”