PEORIA -- Peoria Manual held on to the lead. Breese Central held on to hope.
The lead outlasted hope Friday when the Rams of Manual nipped the Cougars 39-38 in a Class 2A semifinal to advance to Saturday's championship against either Hales or Robinson.
Four times in the fourth quarter Breese Central came within two, and twice more within one, but the Cougars never led a game in which they dominated inside, outrebounding the Rams 37-14.
Peoria Manual (24-7) was 12-for-15 from the free-throw line, including 6-for-7 in the final 1 minute, 5 seconds.
Peoria Manual's Lawrence Alexander had a game-high 16 points and was 6-for-6 from the line.
Brandon Book led Breese Central with 11 points and had seven rebounds. Garrett Gaffner had 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Breese Central (30-4) shot 42.4 percent from the field to Manual's 33.3 percent.
In its 25th state appearance, Manual will try for its sixth state championship.
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