HERSHEY -- Ben Dupree had rehearsed this moment back on January 20 at Kutztown University when Susquehanna Township defeated Philadelphia Public League heavyweight Prep Charter in the SPORTSfever Challenge.

With the final six seconds melting away and the score tied at 54-54 with Steel-High in the PIAA District 3 AAA championship game at Giant Center on Thursday night, the Indians’ sophomore guard raced through and then cleared the Steel-High defenders as he frantically dribbled up court to get a shot off before the final buzzer.

Kutztown flashed into Township coach Vince Rogers’ mind, remembering that he had seen Dupree do something like this before. So Rogers had a pretty good feeling when he saw Dupree stop, square his feet and launch a jumper some 30-or-so feet from the basket, in between the mid-court circle and the top of the key.

“It seemed almost like the Prep Charter game,” said Rogers. “Something told me he was going to make it. He’s fearless. I knew it was good as soon as the ball left his hands.”

And just like his game-winning three-point basket from between the top of the key and center court upset Prep Charter with seconds left in that showcase game a month ago, Dupree’s shot softly settled into the net as the final horn sounded and the Indians had completed a wild comeback from 14 points down in the first half to upset Steel-High 57-54 and win the PIAA District 3 AAA Championship.

Township (28-2) will open the PIAA state tournament next Friday night against the third-place team from District 2 in the east side of the 32-team bracket. Steel-High (23-6) will move into the west and open the state tournament against the second place team from District 6.

After the buzzer-beater, a wild celebration erupted, as Dupree and his teammates raced across the Giant Center floor to the Susquehanna Township student section. Accustomed to winning these kind of intense, high-stakes games, Steel-High was stunned that this championship got away.

From midway through the first quarter to midway through the second, the Rollers looked like the dominant team that won the Mid Penn Conference championship tournament by defeating Susquehanna Township by 18 points and the many previous Steel-High teams who have made the district championship their trademark.

Despite a slow start by the Rollers—they didn’t get their first basket until Lance Chisholm made a three-point basket with 4:12 left in the first quarter--they only trailed 7-4 midway through the first quarter. The Rollers scored seven more unanswered points to take the lead 11-7 and they didn’t let up.

The lead swelled to 25-11 with just over four minutes to play in the first half as Township missed eight straight shots and committed two turnovers. The Rollers backcourt of Chisholm and Jordan Smith combined to score 21 of Steel-High’s first 25 points. Chisholm finished with a game-high 19 points and Smith had 17.

Rogers burned a time out to interrupt what looked like the Rollers’ cruise to their unequalled 21st overall district championship.

The Indians regrouped and began their comeback. Matt Jones, who finished with a team-high 14 points, scored six points and Akeem Wilson, who scored 12 points, scored four. Finally, Dupree picked up the ball after teammate Greg Edwards (one of seven blocked shots in the game for Edwards) swatted away Josh Proctor’s shot on Steel-High’s final possession of the half and beat the buzzer for a layup to complete a 12-0 run to end the half and cut the lead to 25-23.

Edwards’ and Wilson’s defense on Steel-High’s twin 6-7 forwards Proctor and Jeff Davis was beginning to take its toll on the Rollers. Proctor, who averages 16.5 points per game, scored just four points in the game—all in the first 10 minutes of the game.

The Indians did not lose their momentum in the locker room at halftime. Wilson took a feed from Edwards and the game was tied at 25-25 in the first minute of the second half. Tajh Turner’s jump shot with 5:18 left in the third quarter gave the Indians the lead at 31-29.

Township had outscored Steel-High 20-4 since the midway point of the second quarter.

The Indians at last had the full attention of the Rollers. Smith’s two free throws to end the third quarter got Steel-High back on top 42-40 with eight minutes to play.

And it began to look like the Rollers had regained control when Chisholm’s three-point basket with 4:51 left in the game gave Steel-High the lead at 48-44.

The Rollers led 50-46 when Dupree, who had 12 points off the bench, stroked his first clutch three-point jumper to cut the lead to 50-49 with 3:18 left in the game. Turner drilled another three-pointer to answer Jeff Davis’ putback for Steel-High to knot the score at 52-52.

Steel-High committed a turnover with 1:34 left and Susquehanna Township took the clock down to 18 seconds left to play when Jones dribbled through the lane and finished a lay up to give the Indians the lead at 54-52.

After a Steel-High timeout with 11.2 seconds left, the Rollers got what they wanted when Smith drove for a clutch layup to tie the game at 54-54 with six seconds remaining and the the clock running.

Susquehanna Township quickly inbounded to Dupree and the 5-10 sophomore, who has been playing on a sprained ankle, made his mad dash into the memories of the paid crowd of 4,693 and the Indians had their third District AAA championship and second in the past three years.