SPRINGFIELD – From the moment the Centennial Chargers stepped on a practice court for the first time Nov. 9, there was one question that dwarfed all others:

Would the 2009 Class 3A boys' basketball state champions repeat?

With one weekend remaining in a potentially historic season – 10 teams have won consecutive titles in the IHSA state tournament's first 102 years – this compelling question remains very much alive.

The second-ranked Chargers saw to that Tuesday night, surviving their first truly treacherous challenge of the postseason to advance to the state finals.

"They just kept coming at us," coach Tim Lavin said after his Chargers fended off relentless Cahokia 80-74 in the Springfield Super-sectional at Prairie Capital Convention Center. "Give them all the credit in the world. But we hung on and did what we needed to do in the end."

Because they did, the Chargers (31-1) again are headed to Peoria and the Class 3A Final Four. Centennial will face No. 3 Hillcrest in the semifinals at 2 p.m. Friday. Centennial defeated Hillcrest 81-64 on Feb. 6 in Champaign.

"Once you get to Peoria, any team is capable of winning," Chargers senior forward Jeff Johnson said. "But we're not content with just getting there. We want to win the whole thing, and we feel like we have a real good shot."

But first, Centennial had to survive Cahokia's best shot. The Comanches (24-10) led by as many as seven points in the first quarter and later engaged in a furious tug-of-war with the Chargers, who repeatedly built sizeable leads only to see Cahokia reel them back in.

"This was the most intense playoff game we had," Centennial guard Rayvonte Rice said.

When Rice scored with 4:10 left in the third period, the Chargers led by 15 (47-32). Then Comanches freshman guard Keenan Minor went on tear, scoring 12 of Cahokia's next 15 points to cut Centennial's lead to 51-47.

Afer the Chargers rebuilt their advantage to 10 points in the fourth quarter, it virtually disappeared again in a flurry of Cahokia three-pointers. The Comanches finished with 11 treys for the game, including four by Minor (team-high 24 points).

"They just kept shooting those threes," Lavin said. "They didn't back down. They just kept throwing them up there."

In the end, Centennial was forced to counter from the foul line – and did. The Chargers sank 20 of 24 free throws in the final period as desperate Cahokia racheted up its pressure and later was forced to foul to stop the clock.

Charger guard Jimmie McDonald, in particular, answered the challenge. The senior sank 8 of 10 free throws in the final period, including three after Cahokia twice cut the deficit to two points in the final 50 seconds.

"I had to do it," McDonald said. "We're trying to go back to state. I had to knock down my free throws."

Said Johnson: "Jimmy hasn't gotten a lot of accolades this year for being an offensive player, but he's capable of making big shots. We needed him tonight and he came through for us."

So did Rice, who went 14 of 17 at the line en route to a game-high 34 points and accounted for six of Centennial's nine steals.

Now Rice, a repeated hero during the Chargers' march to the 2009 state title, and his teammates have it within their grasp to join 10 other teams with two or more straight state crowns.

"You've got to get there first," Lavin said. "We took that step. We're there now and we'll see what happens."

All of Champaign will be watching.