Heartland Christian brothers Collin Kalaher (left) and Reagan Kalaher go after Fairport Harding’s Yomar Castellano during a Barberton Division VII regional semifinal Thursday. (Morning Journal/Ron Firth)

BARBERTON — When the game is on the line, the Heartland Christian boys basketball team has all the faith in junior Collin Kalaher.

“He’s our guy,” Heartland coach Josh Scott said. “These kids know to get the ball in his hands. I’m sure the other teams know by now.”

Kalaher scored a game-high 24 points in leading the Lions past Fairport Harding, 63-59, in a Division VII regional semifinal Tuesday at Barberton High School.

“If teams don’t know it by now,” Kalaher said. “We were trying to get the ball in my hands. But I also pass the ball. If a play opens up for someone else, I’m going to get it to them.”

Kalaher collected five points and two assists in a frantic fourth quarter in Heartland’s first-ever regional appearance.

Heartland improves to a school-best 22-4 on the season and gets a rematch against Jeromesville Hillsdale (19-7) in the regional championship game at 7 p.m. Friday in Barberton. The winner advances to the state semifinals. Hillsdale defeated Tiffin Calvert, 67-45, in Tuesday’s nightcap.

“I haven’t thought a lick about it,” Scott said. “We were so focused on this game.”

Hillsdale pounded Heartland, 73-54, in a district final last year.

Brody Conaway also was a key contributor for Heartland with 14 points. Corban Seutia added eight points and Jacob Reed seven.

Heartland played the Skippers last year, winning 69-66 in a district semifinal.

“We knew what they were capable of,” Fairport Harding coach Dustin Ettinger said. “They have tough players. It’s fundamental basketball in Columbiana.”

“That was the quickest team we’ve played,” Kalaher said. “They just don’t quit.”

Brothers Yomar and Jan Castellano gave the Lions fits, especially in the first half.Yomar scored 15 points, while Jan had two points and led the Skippers in assists.

Six-foot-3 junior Kam Leftwich, a transfer from Painesville Harvey, had 13 of his team-high 19 points in the first half. Ben Allen contributed 14 points, including eight in the fourth quarter.

“They are just like us, a year older, a year stronger and a year wiser,” Scott said. “It felt like there were two mature teams.”

The Skippers led by as many as six points in the first half and took a 37-33 halftime lead.

“We were throwing the ball around and not playing smart basketball,” Kalaher said.

Heartland held Fairport Harding to 2-of-15 from the field in the third quarter and went on a 15-2 run to take a 48-41 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

“Their coach is good at second-half adjustments,” Ettinger said.

“We just started making defensive plays,” Scott said. “We told them, ‘Don’t let them get to the middle because when they get in the lane they can make plays.”

A Kalaher layup put the Lions ahead 50-43 with 6 1/2 left in the game.

“Early in the fourth quarter when we were up seven, they started pressing and missing shots, I knew we could do this,” Scott said.

The Skippers tied the score at 54-54 on a Yomar Castellano three-pointer with 2:50 remaining.

Conaway hit a layup off a Kalaher assist, Seutia hit a basket in the lane and Isaiah Matthews had a layup from Kalaher as the Lions surged ahead 60-55 with 70 seconds to play.

Allen made two free throws after an offensive rebound and scored after another offensive rebound to trim the Heartland lead to 61-59 with 32 seconds left.

Heartland freshman Reagan Kalaher made two free throws with 3.2 seconds left to give the Lions a four-point lead.

“That was an emotional roller coaster,” Scott said.

“We’re making history one game at a time,” Kalaher said. “We’ve thought about this all year long.”

“This is something I’ll never forget,” Scott said. “Maybe until Friday.”

Game notes

¯ Heartland shot 8-of-20 from the foul line with Collin Kalaher going 3-of-6.

Reagan Kalaher made a pair of free throws with 3.2 seconds to play to put the game away.

“My freshman brother can make them when they count,” Collin said.

¯ Heartland did not make a three-pointer in the second half, missing all four attempts.

¯ Fairport Harding finished the season at 22-3, including a 79-48 win over Wellsville on March 2.

“We’re hoping to see (Heartland) next year,” Ettinger said. “We don’t want to go 0-3.”

¯ Heartland had 11 turnovers, while Fairport Harding had seven.

¯ The Skippers captured football and basketball league titles in their last season in the Northeasten Athletic Conference. Leetonia is joining that league in the fall.

Fairport Harding is heading to the Chagrin Valley Conference.

¯ If you think Heartland has an up-tempo team, check out the display at Barberton High School featuring the 1975-76 Magics who went 26-0 and won the Class AAA state championship. Barberton forced 47 turnovers in the state semifinal game and 28 more in the state title game.

The next season, the Magics averaged 99 points a contest in the regular season and won 25 straight games before being the state runner-up.

Those powerhouse teams played in Salem and East Liverpool as members of the Big 8 Conference along with Alliance, Massillon, Niles, Warren Harding and Warren Western Reserve.

FH: 18-17- 4-15–59

HC: 19-14-15-15–63

FAIRPORT HARDING SCORING: Ben Allen 6-2-14, Yomar Castellano 3-7-15, Jan Castellano 1-0-2, Kam Leftwich 7-3-19, Shane Greenwood 3-0-7, Isaac Maldanado 1-0-2, Brady Lawson 0-0-0. TEAM TOTALS: 21-59, 12-16: 59.

HEARTLAND CHRISTIAN SCORING: Isaiah Matthews 2-0-5, Corban Seutia 3-2-8, Collin Kalaher 10-3-24, Jack Morgan 0-1-1, Brody Conaway 7-0-14, Regan Kalaher 1-2-4, Jacob Reed 3-0-7, Easton Jones 0-0-0. TEAM TOTALS: 26-51, 8-20: 63.

Three-point goals: Fairport Harding 5-29 (Y. Castellano 2, Leftwich 2, Greenwood), Heartland Christian 3-10 (Matthews, C. Kalaher, Reed).