NATRONA HEIGHTS — Wearing two braces and with his severely sprained ankle heavily taped, Sam Beaver hobbled onto the court.

He wasn’t exactly mobile. He definitely wasn’t healthy.

He didn’t care.

This was all about the streak.

St. Joseph’s 6-foot-5 senior and Butler resident managed to contribute five points, eight rebounds and five blocked shots in the Spartans’ 57-51 boys basketball win at Leechburg in their section finale recently.

The victory squared St. Joseph’s section record at 6-6 this season and handed the Spartans a WPIAL Class A playoff berth for the 13th consecutive season.

“We’re pretty proud of that streak, since we’re such a small school,” Beaver said. “I had to play that game. No way was I going to sit and let it possibly end on my watch.”

Beaver averaged 10 points and 10 rebounds per game this season. He was a co-captain with another Butler resident, 6-3 forward John Ferguson. He averaged 10 points and 10 rebounds per game as well.

Ferguson’s younger brother, junior point guard Noah Ferguson, led the Spartans in scoring this season with 14 points per game. The three were teammates at one point at Butler Catholic.

“All three of those guys were outstanding and consistent all year,” St. Joseph’s coach Kelly Robinson said. “They were the core of our team.”

The Spartans went on to drop a 76-47 decision to No. 2 seed Monessen in the first round of the playoffs. But getting the team back in postseason play meant everything to this trio.

“Winning a section game on the road, knowing you have to pull that off to get into the playoffs isn’t easy,” Robinson said. “The effort these guys put out there that night is something I’ll never forget.”

Beaver had missed a few games before that one with his severe ankle sprain.

“They thought it was broken, at first,” Beaver said. “It swelled up really bad. It was painful, but I got through that night on adrenaline.”

John Ferguson scored nine points and snared 11 rebounds against Leechburg while Noah scored 13 points and had four steals.

“Except for a couple of years there, Noah and I have been on the same team since grade school,” John Ferguson said. “He’s developed into one of the best point guards in all of WPIAL Class A.

“Sam and I have been good friends since grade school. It’s been a thrill playing basketball with him all of these years.”

This season marked Noah’s first year as a starter on the Spartans’ varsity squad. He served as the junior varsity point guard last year.

“Noah came on tremendously this year,” Robinson said. “He saw a lot of time in our playoff game against OLSH last season and did well.

“I had a good feeling about him this year, that he would step up and have a great year.”

Noah Ferguson admitted things “will be different” next year when he returns for his senior season.

“We’ll miss those guys. They were true leaders for us,” he said. “I’ll have to play a bigger role in that regard. We do have some underclassmen coming up who will help us.

“We’re looking to get that streak to 14. We definitely don’t want to lose that.”

Beaver plans to pursue a college scholarship via the ROTC program at Syracuse, Duquesne or St. Vincent College. He will play intramural basketball in college as well.

“I know coaching is something I’ll do later in life,” Beaver said. “I’ve been helping out with the Little Dribbler program at Butler Catholic and really enjoy that.”

John Ferguson plans to play basketball next year at Butler County Community College and possibly wind up playing for a four-year school after that.

“Playing basketball with my brother and one of my best friends was special,” Ferguson said. “I know I want to keep playing, but playing ball without those guys on the court with me will be difficult.”