Good shooting and good defense put Miamisburg on a late-season winning streak. But it took a weak spot – free-throw shooting – to keep the streak alive Tuesday night in the Division I sectional semifinals.

The Vikings made 14 of 19 free throws in the second half, including 10 of 12 in the final 2:31, to hold off Beavercreek 64-58 at Trent Arena for their sixth straight victory.

“That was the game,” said Vikings coach Tim Fries, whose team shot 60.4 percent this season. “We’re one of the worst teams in the GWOC from the free-throw line. It drives me nuts. But it’s a new season and we’ve been refocused about it and our guys stepped up and hit the shots.”

After Kyle Rader’s 3-pointer pulled Beavercreek to 58-56 with 1:42 left, four Vikings combined to make six of eight. That was enough to stop the Beavers, who had rallied from a 33-22 halftime deficit.

“Our intensity picked up and they made less shots, and there’s probably a one-to-one correlation there,” Beavers coach John Ahrns said. “Michael Carroll really sparked us with defense and created some turnovers. We were able to finish, and when we got it to one or two points we weren’t able to finish as well.”

Leading the Beavers back were their top scorers, Jalen Camper (21 points) and Rader (12 points) with plenty of help from Airius Moore (14 points).

“We knew they weren’t going to die easy, and they didn’t,” Fries said. “We were face-guarding them the whole game. And Camper, my gosh, still found ways to get shots off.”

The eighth-seeded Vikings (17-7) play No. 9 Centerville at 5:30 Saturday at the Nutter Center for the sectional championship.

Miamisburg forwards Justin Williams and Connor Brown led a 31-point first-half assault in the lane with 14 and 12 points, respectively. Williams finished with 23 points and Brown 14.

“We preach take good shots, and shot selection is one of our strengths,” Fries said. “We will take perimeter shots, but if we can get it inside we’re going to fight to get it inside.”

Beavercreek (13-10) was seeded fourth, but lost seven straight to finish the season. Ahrns said five of the nine players who played Tuesday didn’t play opening night.

“The guys we had coming off the bench played their hearts out,” Ahrns said. “We’re extremely proud of the effort they gave. We just weren’t as ready to execute on as high a level as we were in November unfortunately.”