In good company: How Byron boys basketball can join school's group of state finalists

The Byron boys basketball team is two wins away from doing what the Byron football team did less than four months ago — winning an IHSA state championship.

Or it is one win and one loss away from matching what the girls basketball team did one year ago — making it to the 2A title game and taking second in the state.

The Byron baseball team took second at state twice, most recently in 2014 when they set a program record with 36 wins.

Read about supersectional win: Byron scorches the nets, and soars to boys state basketball tourney for first time

'We just keep grinding away': Byron's Ryan Tucker leads Tigers to supersectional

Sectional Semfinals: Here's how Byron used balanced attack to soar past Riverdale and into sectional finals

Now it's the boys basketball team's turn to give it a try.

"You go into our gym and you see all of Coach (Eric) Yerly's banners (for girls basketball), and all the football banners, and even baseball," Byron fifth-year coach Matt Huels said, "and we wanted that. ... No. 1, I think it's really, really tough to get to this point. But other than that, I'm not sure why we haven't been here yet."

Well they are there now, and knocking on the door for the championship. For the first time in program history, the Byron Tigers got past the supersectionals and will take on Benton at 3:45 p.m. Thursday in Champaign in the state semifinals, with a spot in the Class 2A state final on the line.

"We're not done yet," senior forward Jack Hiveley said after scoring 19 points, hauling in seven rebounds and dishing out four assists during Monday's 85-71 supersectional victory over Chicago Latin. "Now we're going to go into Champaign and kick (butt)."

Byron is big, strong and potent. Hiveley, the 6-foot-3 forward who is averaging 11.9 points and 5.3 rebounds, and 6-3 Ryan Tucker make up two of the team's four senior starters. The 6-3 Carson Buser (4.5 points and a team-high 3.8 assists) and 6-4 Braylon Kilduff are the others, while sophomore point guard Cason Newton (11.2 points, 47 percent from the field) has molded in nicely with this group of veteran Tigers. Sophomore power forward Caden Considine (5.8 points and 3.5 rebounds) is one of the few bench players to get significant time, and he's come up big multiple times.

Benton (32-3) counters with 6-8 junior Docker Tedeschi, who is averaging 15.5 points and 8.2 rebounds. He is surrounded by talented shooters, including Isaac Billington (14.3 points, 3.5 assists per game).

"A lot of people know Tedeschi — you know, the 6-8 guy," said Benton coach Ron Winemiller, who first coached at Forreston from 2002-04. "But we're much more than that. We have weapons. Now, so does Byron. I've watched Byron throughout the year ... and we're going to have to amp up our game in this one."

Byron (30-2) was ranked seventh in the final AP poll of the season, while Benton (32-3) was fifth. These teams bowed out early in the postseason last year, and both have showed how hungry they are with this postseason run. Benton lost in the first round last year, while Byron lost Tucker to a broken elbow and then bowed out in the regional finals.

"Oh, I remember everything about that feeling that I had. Everything," said Tucker, who averages 23.2 points, is shooting 54 percent from the floor and hauling in 5.8 rebounds. He also has 84 3-pointers.

"But this season we put it all together. We knew right away, too. ... We just want to win a state championship."

Byron has won its five postseason games by an average margin of 22.2 points, while Benton has won by a 15-point margin this postseason. But this next step will be a challenge for both sides.

"We're not celebrating yet," Newton said. "We have a little more work to do ... We won't stop until this is done."

Jay Taft is a Rockford Register Star sports reporter. Email him at jtaft@rrstar.com and follow him on Twitter at @JayTaft. Sign up for the Rockford High School newsletter at rrstar.com. Jay has covered a wide variety of sports, from the Chicago Bears to youth sports, since the turn of the century at the Register Star, and for over 30 years all together.

This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: IHSA boys basketball Final Four: Byron aims for another sports title