LYLE — The Lyle-Pacelli boys basketball team seemed like they were destined to fall short in Lyle Gym Thursday.

One of their top scorers left the game in a stretcher right before halftime, their 1,000 point scorer fouled out with 3:35 left in a close game, they had just two starters on the floor in the last two minutes of the game and they finished minus eleven in the turnover category.

Despite all those obstacles, the Athletics never flinched and they walked away with a much-needed 74-69 win over Randolph (15-5 overall, 13-3 SEC) to force a three-way tie atop the SEC West Division.

“That was crazy. I haven’t played in any basketball game like that,” said LP junior Lee Bauer, who had 16 points, six assists and 12 rebounds.

LP (15-4 overall, 12-3 SEC) held a 62-52 lead with four minutes left in the game, but the Rockets weren’t about to go away. Randolph stormed back in the game and it eventually tied things up when Grant Otte hit back-to-back 3-pointers to make it 69-69 with 52 second left in the game.

LP quickly broke Randolph’s press after the second 3-pointer and Braden Kocer used a spin move to get to the hoop and score to put LP up for good at 71-69 with 45 seconds left in the game. Kocer had 17 points and eight rebounds.

“It was all instincts. I usually would’ve pulled that up, but I went in and I’m really glad we got the win,” Kocer said.

Kocer, who scored LP’s last six points of the game, hit two free throws on LP’s next possession to ice the game.

LP head coach Dean Deboer said he knew Randolph would make a late run, and he was hoping his team would have an answer.

“We knew they had that ability,” DeBoer said. “They’re a dangerous team from outside and they can make runs. I reminded the older kids that they needed to be leaders and the juniors and seniors needed to step up and they did. For Braden to make that play and rise to the occasion is special.”

LP was in position to win thanks to players like Kocer, Brennen Ruis, who had eight points, nine rebounds and two blocked shots, and Jordan Cotter, who had 16 points. Nathan Drees had a key steal for a lay-up and Patrick Murphy grabbed a couple of big rebounds down the stretch as well.

The Athletics looked to be making a run near the end of the first half when disaster struck. After the Athletics had pulled within 28-25, LP junior Noah Jiskra went up for a breakaway lay-up when he crashed to the floor and collided with the wall behind the hoop. Jiskra was down for about ten minutes before being carried off the floor in a stretcher.

The scene was a tough one for LP to take in and the last thing on DeBoer’s mind was how his team was going to overcome a 32-25 halftime deficit as his team headed to the locker room.

“It was emotional. In the coaching handbook there’s no speech for that. You really leave it up to the kids to get themselves ready to play and they were able to,” DeBoer said. “Everybody looks out for each other and this is a close group of kids. I think they wanted to play for Noah, and honestly the last thing I was thinking about was basketball at halftime. They did a good job to start the second half to remind me that we were here to play.”

LP surged to a 19-6 run to open the second half and it led by as many as 54-44 when Jordan Hart hit a 3-pointer. But when Hart fouled out and was given a technical foul with 3:49 left, Randolph pulled within 62-59 and it was a dog fight the rest of the way.

Bauer said the Athletics were motivated to win it for Jiskra.

“We fought back together as a team and we played together with heart,” Bauer said. “It was hard [to lose Noah], we had to come back together with clear minds. We were playing for Noah and we had a lot of energy from the crowd.”

Kocer said both teams were pumped up before the game, knowing it had a big impact on section and conference standings, and Jiskra’s injury served as an ignition switch for the Athletics.

“It was such an emotional game to begin with because it was a big game for both teams,” Kocer said. “Then Noah goes down and we wanted to go out and win for our brother. That just really amped us up even more.”

Randolph 32 37 — 69

LP 25 49 — 74

LP scoring: Braden Kocer, 17; Lee Bauer, 16; Jordan Cotter, 16; Jordan Hart, 10; Brennen Ruis, 8; Nathan Drees, 4; Noah Jiskra, 3; free throws: 53 percent (15-for-28); rebounds: 54 (Bauer, 12); turnovers: 20