MAHOMET – There were any number of reasons Centennial's run of regional titles could have come to an end Friday night:

– Start with 16 turnovers by halftime, as a faster, quicker Urbana Tigers team relentlessly badgered the Chargers into ball-handling mistakes with fullcourt pressure.

– An even shorter Charger bench than usual. With top reserve guard Emmanuel Richter-Shea sitting out his third straight game while serving a team suspension, coach Tim Lavin went with six players in this fast-paced and physically draining game against a nine-deep Tiger rotation.

– A 15-point deficit. That's what Centennial faced by the second minute of the third quarter as Urbana carried over the momentum of a withering 23-3 run in the second quarter with more of the same to open the second half.

And yet, even those formidable obstacles weren't enough to deny these never-say-die Chargers a 63-59 comeback victory and third straight Class 3A regional crown.

"Amazing," Lavin said. "There's no quit in these kids."

Even after Urbana took a 40-25 lead on a breakaway basket by guard P.J. Blissit (game-high 21 points) with 6:48 left in the third period.

"We didn't put our heads down," said Chargers guard Lawrence Kinney, who scored all of his 14 points in the second half. "We just kept going hard because we knew the game wasn't over. There was a lot of time left."

Centennial (20-9) used that time to create some havoc of its own defensively. Forced to play catchup, Lavin ordered his Chargers into a press that yielded five Urbana turnovers in a tide-turning third quarter – and nine for the second half.

"I figured at some point he would press us," Tigers coach Vashoune Russell said. "We have to take care of the ball. There were some costly turnovers."

Still, the game was up for grabs into the final seconds. Centennial took the lead for good at 58-56 when guard Taylen Alexander (16 points) sank two free throws with 1:50 left. Kinney then went 4 for 4 at the line to stave off Urbana (12-14).

Centennial advanced to the Decatur MacArthur Sectional, where it will face Morton at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday. Coming off two straight state tournament appearances, a revamped Chargers team again is moving on in the postseason.

"It's something to be proud of," Lavin said. "We lost four of our five starters, five of our top seven (off last season's team), and a lot of people didn't think we could come back and do this. And we did. We've been up and down, but big games, we've played pretty big."