INDIANAPOLIS — With the biggest victory of his high school career thus far on the line, Pendleton Heights senior Matt Wehner flashed back to a practice drill.

The Class 4A No. 3 Arabians trailed No. 2 North Central 48-47 with less than three minutes to play in the fourth quarter, and senior Kellen Dunham had yet to score a point in the second half.

As Wehner drove toward the basket with the Panthers’ student section screaming for blood behind him, he took time to survey the scene.

He noticed North Central’s defense had overloaded the right side so he drove to the baseline. As he neared the end of the court, Panthers defender Patrick Ingram left his position near Dunham to intercept Wehner.

It proved to be a fatal mistake.

Mimicking a play he’s made in practice nearly every day since October, Wehner rifled a pass to Dunham just on the other side of the key. Ingram had to scramble back into position, and he was late.

He fouled Dunham in the act of shooting, and the resulting three-point play gave the Arabians the lead for good in a thrilling 61-56 upset road victory.

“Matt Wehner made a great pass on the three-point play,” Pendleton Heights head coach Brian Hahn said. “That was a really unselfish play by Matt, and it gave us the lead and gave us a little distance.”

Seconds earlier, this game appeared to be headed for a completely different ending.

North Central senior Ronnie Johnson sent the home crowd into a frenzy with an alley-oop pass in transition to classmate Ingram that gave the Panthers a 46-45 lead.

When the rattled Arabians again turned the ball over on the ensuing possession, Ingram converted an uncontested layup and Pendleton Heights called timeout with 3:26 remaining.

Hahn was calm in the huddle, but his message was brief and direct.

“He told us you’ve gotta be tough,” Wehner said, “and don’t let it get to us.”

Pendleton Heights (20-2) scored quickly to cut its deficit to one, and after a defensive stop Wehner and Dunham hooked up to take the lead.

To that point, Dunham had attempted just one field goal in the second half. It was blocked, and he hadn’t scored in 13:18.

“I thought we guarded him,” North Central head coach Doug Mitchell said. “We just guarded him. He’s a very good player, and we’ve got a lot of very good players on our schedule. I think that gives us an understanding of that and how we must play against that caliber of player. But he’s such a good player that he’s willing to defer to his teammates and go with what’s there.”

Indeed, the Arabians took a 43-42 lead into fourth quarter only after senior Nick Swartz sank a short jumper from just outside the free-throw line.

Junior Nick Moore made a huge 3-pointer to help Pendleton Heights maintain the lead in the second quarter, and the Arabians also got a big 3 from Parker Aul in the first half and a key transition basket from Brogan Gary late in the fourth quarter.

“This was just a great team win,” said Hahn, who earned his 100th win in six seasons at Pendleton Heights. “We talked about it before the game, that everybody needed to step up and make contributions. And everybody did.”

Unsurprisingly, the ball still found its way into Dunham’s hands when it mattered most.

He scored a game-high 28 points on 8-of-12 shooting (making him an almost obscene 20-of-30 in his past two outings) and he again iced away a big victory at the free-throw line.

Dunham made all nine of his fourth-quarter free-throw attempts, after starting the game just 1-for-2 at the line.

North Central (19-5) failed to write senior JaRon Sherard’s name into the scorebook and earned a technical foul when he got an honorary start for senior night.

Dunham’s first attempt, however, was short and glanced off the rim.

“The ball felt like a big old balloon up there,” he said. “It was weird. I didn’t even have time to warm up.”

He got a measure of redemption when Johnson was called for a technical foul after a scramble late in the game. Dunham hit both shots to put the Arabians in front 52-48, and Gary’s only basket of the game capped a 9-0 run moments later.

North Central fought back to 54-51, but Dunham repeatedly twisted the knife at the free-throw line down the stretch.

“I’m just trying to come out here and trying to win,” Dunham said of his late-game cool at the charity stripe. “Obviously, in that situation, I’m thinking I can’t let my teammates down. Coach puts extra pressure on me in practice and makes sure I’m ready for those situations in the game.”

Johnson, bound for Purdue next fall, led the Panthers with 20 points but shot just 7-of-21 from the field. Iowa commit Ingram added 12 points on 5-of-11 shooting.

The Panthers shot just 43.4 percent as a team.

Pendleton Heights finished at 53.7 percent after a blistering 59.1 in the first half. Wehner was the only other Arabian in double figures with 14 points, and he added four assists.

Gary finished with five assists and two steals.

The Arabians, who lost in the regional final last year against Kokomo, finish the regular season Thursday at home against New Castle.

When the postseason starts next week, they’ll be among the state title contenders.

“They’re good,” Mitchell said. “They’re really good. They’ve only got two losses, and they’re both to the No. 1 team in the state (Hamilton Southeastern). And they just beat the No. 2 team. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out they’re good. Their percentage chances (of a deep postseason run) are better than most.”