Crystal Lake Central 43, Belvidere 31: Crystal Lake Central’s Sam Johnson almost didn’t finish her senior season.

Two weeks ago, Johnson broke two fingers in her right hand during a rebounding drill in practice. The injury was bad enough that she could have opted for surgery, thus ending her final season.

“She had the choice,” Central coach Matt LePage said. “We had a five-game losing streak at the time. She could have shut it down. She said, ‘no, we are going to play for a potential regional crown.’”

Good thing for her team that Johnson has a high tolerance for pain. The 6-foot-1 center scored a game-high 18 points and hauled down 17 rebounds as the Tigers beat cold-shooting Belvidere 43-31 Thursday in a Class 3A regional title game. It’s the first regional crown for the Tigers (11-16) since 1995.

“It hurts extremely bad,” said Johnson, looking at her taped fingers after the game. “I will most likely have surgery after the season, but I was more psyched up for this game than any other I’ve ever played.”

Central’s game plan was to have Johnson touch the ball on every offensive possession. It worked. The Tigers jumped out to a 16-point lead, 29-13, in the third quarter, mostly by feeding Johnson in the low post. She scored 12 of her points in the second half. “She is a monster in there,” LePage said.

“We knew we had to keep the ball out of her hands,” Belvidere coach Darcee Baney said. “She’s a tough kid. We had a tough time matching up.”

But Belvidere had a tougher night on offense. The Bucs shot 25 percent (12-for-48), scoring just 16 points through the first three quarters. No matter what they threw up — jump shots, layup, 3-pointers — nothing would fall.

“Our inexperience came out,” Baney said. “We wanted to win so bad that I think the girls tried to force too much, and didn’t take shots that were comfortable for them.”

Lauren Hyser led Belvidere (9-19) with 15 points, but struggled as Central’s Mary Grace Thomas shadowed the senior guard for most of the game. Kayla Harris, who combined with Hyser for 47 points Tuesday in the Bucs’ win against Belvidere North, was stymied as well. She had three points before leaving with a leg injury early in the fourth. Harris didn’t return.

-Paul Anthony Arco, rrstar.com