READING - All good things must come to an end.
And for Donegal's boys' basketball team, one of the greatest runs in the history of the school came to a screeching halt Tuesday night.
Basil Thompson and Providence recruit Brandon Austin scored 14 points apiece, and District 12 champ Imhotep Charter squeaked past the Indians 56-54 in a PIAA Class AAA state semifinal game in Reading High's stuffed-to-the-gills Geigle Complex.
CLICK HERE FOR THE RECAP OF THE LIVE CHAT FROM THE GAME
Donegal had a shot to tie it up at the buzzer, but Michael Banwell couldn't get a shot off as time expired.
There was some confusion about the last play; Indians' coach Ryan Butt said Banwell was knocked to the ground and that he didn't get there by himself.
But there was no whistle for a foul, the refs signaled that the game was over and then darted out of the gym.
The Indians made an unbelievable comeback just to put themselves in position to tie the game; Donegal trailed by 12 with less than three minutes to play, but got hot from behind the arc and made Imhotep sweat it out.
Martin Dietrich hit three 3-pointers and Matt Foltz hit a pair of 3-pointers in the closing minutes to pull the Indians to within 56-54.
But when Banwell couldn't get a shot off and there was no foul call, the Panthers held on.
End result:
Imhotep Charter, now 27-5 overall, will play for its third PIAA title in a row, when the Panthers take on District 12 fourth-seed Archbishop Carroll, which knocked off District 7 champ Montour 50-45 in the other Class AAA semifinal on Tuesday.
Imhotep Charter is the back-to-back reigning Class AA champ - and has won three of the last four AA titles - and is up in Class AAA this season.
Imhotep vs. Carroll is Friday at 8 p.m. in Hershey's Giant Center.
CLICK HERE FOR THE PIAA CLASS AAA BOYS' BASKETBALL BRACKET
Donegal, meanwhile, finishes its season 29-3 overall, including a rip-roaring 23-0 start, the Section 3 championship, an L-L League semifinal appearance, a third-place finish in District 3, a win over three-time reigning state Class AAA champ Neumann-Goretti - the state's top-ranked team - in the PIAA quarters, and a trip to the state semifinals.
Martin Dietrich ended up with five 3-pointers, a game-high 22 points and six rebounds, Jason Dietrich chipped in with 15 points and five boards and Foltz had 11 points and six rebounds for Donegal.
Austin scored nine second-half points, including three late foul shots to help Imhotep fend off the Indians late.
Donegal led 26-24 at the break before the Panthers used a 13-6 third-quarter spurt to grab a 37-32 lead heading into the fourth.
It looked like Imhotep was going to run away and hide early in the fourth when Nigel Grant had a pair of breakaway buckets, Jakwan Jones had an and-1 and Jalil Myers had a slam as the Panthers went up by a dozen.
Undaunted, Donegal got hot from beyond the arc. Martin Dietrich scored 11 fourth-quarter points and Jason Dietrich hit a pair of buckets, including an acrobatic stickback to fuel the run.
But the Indians never got over the hump.
NOTABLE: Donegal out-rebounded Imhotep 33-22, which was impressive, considering the Panthers usually had at least four players standing 6-6 taller on the court. Tommy Hatt had five boards off the bench of the Indians. ... Donegal had 12 turnovers; Imhotep had 10 giveaways. ... Jason Dietrich went 7-for-8 at the foul line in the second quarter, when Donegal outscored Imhotep 14-11 to grab a 2-point lead at the half.
REINHART ON TWITTER: @JeffReinhart77