McLEANSBORO - Jacob Deisher said he really didn't have much of a choice Friday night in the championship of the Hamilton County Sectional.

Down one with under 30 seconds to play at a spirited Hamilton County High School in McLeansboro, Mount Carmel's 6-foot-4 junior didn't want to add to the Golden Aces' 57-year sectional title drought as he approached the rim. His 6-foot runner just past Vienna's 6-11 center proved to be the winning bucket in Mount Carmel's 51-50 nail-biter over the Eagles.

"I saw him coming over," Deisher said. "I saw an open lane. I just had to take the shot, and made the layup."

Vienna (24-7) had two chances to score the winning bucket, but even with Mount Carmel boys basketball coach Ryan Haywood screaming for his team to foul, couldn't convert. Off a timeout, the Eagles went to Thompson with 11.9 seconds to play, but the junior who had 20 points was stripped of the rock as he spun to his left. Derek Trovillion came up with the basketball about a foot from the endline, where Vienna coach Rick Metcalf gave his team another chance with a timeout.

With 8.4 to play, Thompson went to the far right baseline of the lane, as Vienna put its postseason hopes in senior Kyle Willis' hands. Willis found the basketball on the left baseline, thought he had an opening along the baseline, but was shut off by Mount Carmel's defense. Willis' desperation pass to Chris Nichols was tipped, and as Nichols corralled the ball, he could only throw up a prayer right at the horn. The last shot of the night fell off the rim long, and Mount Carmel's fans tried to forget nearly six decades of postseason futility as they stormed the court.

Mount Carmel (21-10) tied for third in its conference, but advanced to meet No. 1 and undefeated Nashville Tuesday night at SIU Arena in Carbondale.

"Jacob Deisher is as streaky a kid as it gets, and you could see he began to get into a rhythm at the end,"

Haywood said. "He hit some clutch shots."

Willis said there was nowhere to go when the Golden Aces cut him off about four feet from the basket.

"As soon as I got the ball, I had to do something with it, and I wasn't able to take the shot, unfortunately," he said. "I started to cut up the baseline, but I had to throw it back out. It appeared that they fouled us. Their coach kept saying 'Foul!

Foul! Foul!' The shot came up short. Ballgame."

Mount Carmel had one foul to give, and nearly chose to put Vienna at the line with a chance to win the game.

Haywood pressed his forearms together with his team down 50-49 and 1:13 to play, but Nichols eventually turned it over with 48.3 to go after a few errant passes. The Golden Aces then weaved 24 seconds off the clock before Deisher took their season into his own hands. He responded with his first game-winner of the season.

"Kyle's so good at going to the hole and penetrating,"

Metcalf said. "He's big-time, and the kids have a lot of confidence in him. They laid it out for us."

Vienna tied the school record for wins and won four championships, including its own regional and the South Egyptian Conference regular-season crown. With its first sectional title seconds away, the Eagles found themselves underneath Mount Carmel's bucket in the final minute, but couldn't convert.

"If you would have told me we'd be underneath the basket at the end against Mount Carmel, I'd have taken it," Metcalf said. "The last shot just didn't fall our way."

todd.hefferman@thesouthern.com

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