For the third time in the program’s history, Hennessey had to settle for basketball silver Saturday evening after a 52-42 loss to Rejoice Christian in the Class 2A championship game at State Fair Arena.

However, the 2019 season won’t be defined by that defeat, but rather by the miraculous comeback Friday when the Eagles had been all but counted out.

The Eagles trailed Rock Creek by four points with 17 seconds to play in regulation…and Rock Creek was headed to the foul line.

Still, Hennessey found a way to tie it up with last-second heroics and eventually earn a 42-38 overtime victory to earn its first spot in the title game since 1974.

“Everyone did their part and they never gave up,” said head coach Brady Page, who has now taken four Hennessey teams to state in eight years.

“They had a chip on their shoulder and wanted to prove everyone wrong. I think that goes for that game and this season.”

Expectations outside of the program weren’t lofty after the Eagles graduated stalwarts Dalton Vinson and Carlos Rojo from last year’s 3A quarterfinal squad.

But Hennessey defied the odds, “won a lot of close games” and entered state with a 24-2 record.

The odds were undoubtedly stacked against the Eagles when Rock Creek’s Elijah Factor toed the foul line with 17.4 seconds on the clock and his team leading 37-33.

The Eagles had already avoided multiple potential fatal blows by the Mustangs by that point and were given yet another stay when Factor missed both free throws.

Ten seconds later, a Hugo Rodriguez putback pulled HHS within 37-35 before Page expended his final timeout.

“We drew up a plan and they bought in,” Page said. “But I don’t think it would have mattered what I would have told them; they were determined.”

After the timeout, the Mustangs got the ball to guard Karson Dry, who turned around to only have the ball stripped by Brandon Ramirez.

The ball was headed out of bounds so Ramirez leapt after it, threw it back inbounds and off Dry’s leg before it went back out of bounds.

That gave Hennessey possession on its own end, but still trailing by two.

Cooper Fuksa was able to get the ball into Angel, but the guard was covered up, so he gave it back up to Fuksa.

The senior let go with a desperation 3-pointer, but it sailed long.

However, Bryan Villalobos was in position on the backside and tipped it in just as the buzzer went off.

Tie game.

Overtime belonged to the Eagles as they made 5 of 6 free throws while Rock Creek was 1 of 4.

Angel led the team with 17 points while Hugo added 13.

The Eagles won despite shooting 37 percent.

Rock Creek, with chances to pull away, went 7 of 18 from the free throw line.

There was no such fortune against Rejoice Christian, which was making its first-ever state tournament appearance.

The Owasso-based Eagles featured 6-foot-6-inch Jaden Lietzke and 6-foot-4-inch Justin Seay.

“It was just a tough matchup and they outmatched us in every spot size-wise,” Page said. “After the first couple of minutes, we knew we were going to have to try something else to stop them. We threw six or seven defenses at them and none of them seemed to work.”

Angel made two early 3-pointers for a 6-2 advantage, but Rejoice answered with a 16-5 run to end the quarter.

With 1:37 left in the half, Rejoice led 31-20.

Seay and Lietzke had 13 apiece at that point.

“Their post guys were unreal,” Page said. “In my eight years, we haven’t played against two that good on the same team.”

But Hennessey wouldn’t go away.

The Eagles kept making shots, but mostly from the perimeter.

Hennessey was 10 of 23 from 3-point range. Angel made four of them and Fuksa three more.

The latter’s trey 14 seconds into the fourth quarter brought the Eagles within 41-38.

Unfortunately, Hennessey didn’t score again until 1:25 remained as Rejoice pushed its lead back to double digits. “Any other night, we hit 10 3’s and we win,” Page said. “Just not that night.” Angel scored 19 points and had six assists. Hugo had seven points and 11 rebounds. Both were named to The Oklahoman’s all-tournament team. Fuksa finished the game with nine points. Rejoice got 22 points from Seay, who was named MVP.  Lietzke had 18 points and nine rebounds. The two combined to make 17 of 26 shots. Moments after the Eagles were handed their silver trophy, most of the tears were gone. “Any other time you lose a game like that, you’re so depressed,” Page said. “But it was truly a great run. Nobody gave us much of a chance to do what we did, but we got to go home with silver. “This is a great group of guys and I’m really proud of them.”