03/04/2026
BY JACK BULLOCK
NASHVILLE - Game winning shots are special and buzzer beaters are part of the fabric of high school basketball.

Moments of jubilation for one team, excruciating mental agony for the other.

For Carterville sophomore Max Lustenberger, the thrill of the moment will live in his memories forever.

The 5-10 guard took a pass from teammate Colton Hawkins as the clock ticked down where he found himself open from the left corner beyond the 3-point line.

Lustenberger, without hesitation, launched a 20-footer that found the mark as time expired, giving his Lions a come-from-behind 46-43 victory over a stunned Breese Central squad.

The Lions found themselves with possession of the ball, tied at 43-all with 1:36 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Head coach Shane Hawkins instructed his team to go for a final shot.

Following a timeout with :35.9 remaining, the coaches' son dribbled the ball near half-court before starting the offensive set with under :10 left.

Getting the ball to the left side of the court, Hawkins avoided a double-team and passed the ball to a wide-open Lustenberger

Launching the biggest shot of his career, Lustenberger's attempt ripped through the net as the final buzzer sounded.

The Lions advanced to Friday night's sectional title game against Benton, who upset Nashville on Tuesday night.

Coach Hawkins and his crew are now 30-3 on the season while Coach Jeremy Shubert and his Central Cougars finished 23-10.

“We play one possession at a time, for 32-minutes. Colton made the right pass to me. We do that stuff in practice everyday,” said Lustenberger. “It's the stuff you dream of when you're five-years old. I will think about this the rest of my life. We've played basketball together since we were young. We've gone through so much adversity and we've been brothers since we were little. We've played through toughness, every single game. Even when we got down 10, we never had a thought of losing.”

Carterville trailed 10-0 with just over three minutes into the first quarter and 18-3 late in the period.

But the Lions rallied in the second half to escape with the win, advancing to the sectional championship game for the first time since 2015.

Colton Hawkins led his club with 23-points while junior guard Maddox Gulley added nine-points for Carterville.

“When you have trust in all of your guys and they have trust in you that you're going to make the right play, you get the ball to the right spot it's going to go in,” said Colton Hawkins. “I had faith in #2 and he made an important shot. All we ask for is that with two minutes left in the game if we give ourselves a chance, we like our odds. They (Central) didn't miss in the first quarter but we stuck with our principles. We knew what we were doing was right. We stayed in the game and started making plays. It worked out for us. I love this group of guys. The chemistry and trust we have for each other really shows late in the game.”

Hawkins converted a conventional three-point play and Gulley made a steal and scored on a fast break layup for the Lions first lead of the game at 41-40 at the 4:21 mark of the final quarter.

Conlan Haar paced the Cougars with 12-points and teammate junior Bennett Becker added 11 in the low scoring struggle.

Haar scored nine of his points in the first half and senior guard Ryker Hegger nailed a 3-pointer for a 26-13 advantage in the second quarter.

Hawkins scored on a three-point play to close the half at 28-18 Central.

Thanks to the senior leader, the Lions cut into the Central advantage in the third quarter.

Hawkins nailed a 3-pointer while being fouled and converted the four-point play.

Reserved Jonathan Miller put back in a missed shot for a rebound score to send the teams to the fourth quarter with the Lions down just 39-32.

“We wanted to go out and win the third quarter. We didn't have to tie it, but we needed to win the quarter,” said Coach Hawkins. “We really started believing that we could go out and get this thing done. We just kept grinding. We made some tough plays, we got some tough rebounds, we finished in the paint in the second half when we didn't do it in the first half. They kept grinding and that's all you can ask from your guys. We went and made plays.”

Carterville took its first lead thanks to an 11-1 run to begin the final frame.

Hawkins dished an inside assist to junior Zach Snow and he got into the lane on a drive while being fouled.

It turned into another “And-1” to cut the Central lead to just 40-39.

Central's final points came on a rebound and put back by sophomore Wyatt Schrage while being fouled.

His made free throw that evened the game and set up the final minute in a half in which the Cougars never touched the ball.

Hawkins' assist to Lustenberger sent the Carterville crowd into a frenzy as the players surrounded the sophomore after the horn.

Coach Hawkins' club could have quit after being down early but they rallied to keep their season alive.

For Breese Central, it was another tough sectional defeat.

The Cougars shot the ball well enough to win most games, hitting 17-of-34 from the floor, 5-of-13 from 3-point territory.

They also held a 21-13 rebounding advantage.

But they committed 13-turnovers and sent the Lions to the foul line too often.

Colton Hawkins hit all eight of his free throws and the team connected on 11-of-15 compared to 4-of-7 for Central.

Carterville finished up 15-of-37 and committed just seven turnovers, four of them early when they fell behind.

Coach Hawkins' club will face a familiar adversary on Friday night.

The Lions dropped a 55-51 overtime decision to the Rangers in the championship game of the Benton Invitational Tournament back on January 31st.

“Colton starts driving to the basket and we know he's going to draw help (double-team) going to the paint. Max was where he was supposed to be and he made the right play,” said Coach Hawkins. “More times than not, in this crazy game, if you make the right play the basketball Gods will reward you. Colton made the right play, Max was open and he buried it for us.”