Just when Chanel thought they had some momentum, Brian Hecker took it away.

In a half where Chanel did just enough to stay within striking distance of the Warriors, it appeared Jo'Vaughn Brown had given the Firebirds reason to think they could advance past Worthington Christian in the first Division IV semifinal matchup of the night when he split a double team and laid the ball in along with a foul late in the first half. A missed free throw and a 30-foot bomb at the horn from Hecker later and Chanel found themselves back in a nine point hole headed to the locker room.

Behind Hecker's 17 points and 8 rebounds and the sharpshooting of Tyler Joseph (17 points, 5 3 pointers), Worthington Christian advanced to the Division IV state championship game with a 66-58 win over Bedford St. Peter Chanel.

"I have no idea how that went in," said Hecker of the shot. "I didn't even see it go in."

Worthington Christian opened the second half on a 5-0 run to stretch the lead to double digits, where it stayed for most of the third until Brown hit a three late in the quarter to cut Chanel's deficit to eight. Chanel's Arthur Jordan did most of his damage in the third as well, scoring 8 of his 13 points. Worthington's Brady Beals split a pair of free throws for Worthington Christian to stake them to a 51-42 lead after three.

Chanel used an agressive press in the fourth and a Lamar McKnight three from the top of the key to pull within 51-47 with just under 7:00 left. But Warriors' sophomore point guard Zach Joseph made a pair of free throws and set up senior Bob Condon on a backdoor feed to push Worthington Christian's lead back out to 55-47 three minutes into the quarter. Chanel was unable to get closer than six points the rest of the way.

"Just when you thought we were going to get over the hump, we missed a shot or they made a play," said Chanel coach Bernie Tarr of his team's inability to close the gap on the Warriors.

Tyler Joseph paced the Warriors early in the game hitting on three first quarter 3-pointers as Worthington Christian led 19-13 after one.

Chanel managed to not lose much ground in the second quarter but was unable to dent the Worthington Christian lead until Brown's and-one opportunity with 4 seconds left in the half. But Hecker, just like Worthington Christian seemed to all night, found a way to keep the Firebirds just out of reach.

"You don't ever exhale," said Worthington coach Kevin Weakley. "We won't be able to exhale until Saturday night."