Class D-1: Bergan, Mead, Hayes Center, Humphrey St. Francis advance
Class D-1 tournament schedule and results.
Archbishop Bergan 79, Kenesaw 47: By the time Wes Eikmeier and his 30.5 points-per-game average even got cranked up, top-ranked Archbishop Bergan was already on cruise control.
The Knights’ defense forced 12 first-half turnovers, and Brian Liekhus scored 11 of Bergan’s first 17 points in leading the Knights (25-0) to a 17-5 lead. Then Eikmeier took over, scoring 19 of Bergan’s next 24 points.
“Our defensive pressure created a lot of turnovers and we turned those into points,” Eikmeier said. “Fortunately it worked out pretty well for us.”
Eikmeier tallied 22 of his game-high 29 points in the first two periods, and Bergan connected on seven three-pointers while building a 41-17 halftime lead.
Trevor Stickels led unranked Kenesaw (14-8) with 15 points, while Evan Bender chipped in 10. Liekhus finished with 18 points for the Knights.
Mead 56, Palmer 46: Normally a shooting percentage of less than 50 from the free throw line will have disastrous results, especially if the offending team racks up 43 total attempts.
For fourth-ranked Mead, however, everything else that needed to happen to help offset the troubles from the charity stripe went exactly as planned.
Nathan Raver came off the Raiders' bench to score 15 points, Eric Johnson threw in 13 more and Mead (20-3) used 10 offensive rebounds in the second half and a strong defense to overcome a 19 for 43 performance from the stripe in a 56-46 win over No. 5 Palmer in the first round of the State Tournament at Lincoln East Thursday morning.
“They started fouling us pretty early. And, why wouldn’t you when we were skanking it up there that badly,” Mead coach PJ Quinn said. “We shot free throws so badly they came back to us on the rebound.”
Neil Kilchriste scored 16 points for the Tigers (20-4) to keep Palmer within 33-32 after three quarter.
But, as the Tigers failed to connect on their first 10 tries from the field in the final quarter, Mead managed to pull away in the fourth quarter by collecting five Palmer turnovers and grabbing rebounds on six of its 15 missed free throws.
“Those are just inexcusable,” Palmer coach Matt Koehler said of the Raider offensive boards. “You have to take advantage when they help you out like that.”
Collins Haag added 10 points for the Tigers. -- Gene Cotter
Hayes Center 90, Callaway 54: The No. 2-seed Cardinals bolted to a big first-half lead and cruised past the No. 7-seed Bears at Lincoln East.
Hayes Center (23-1) was the first team in the tournament to put together consecutive 20-plus-point quarters. The Cardinals led 21-8 after one quarter, 43-15 at halftime and 65-38 at the end of the third. Eleven players scored for coach Louis Cuellar's team, including four in double figures -- Levi Tyan with 24; Keifer Messersmith with 17; Matt Gohl with 14; and Justin Huss with 13.
Rob Keeney had 17 for the Bears, who finished their season 15-5.
Humphrey St. Francis 40, West Boyd 28
When unranked West Boyd (20-6) found a way to slow down 6-foot 10 Humphrey St. Francis center Nathan Noonan, Flyers guard Steve Wemhoff hurt the Spartans.
When West Boyd shut down Wemhoff, Noonan took over once again.
Noonan scored a career-high 20 points, grabbed six boards and blocked six shots, Wemhoff added nine more points, and the Spartans just couldn’t find enough ways to slow down all of the St. Francis threats at the same time as the second-ranked Flyers advanced.
“That gave us the push we needed to keep going,” Noonan said of Wemhoff’s performance once West Boyd slowed him down. “That was a lot of fun.”
Noonan tallied 10 points in the first period but only got one shot in the second. In his absence, Wemhoff scored seven points in leading the Flyers to a 25-17 lead at the break. The closest West Boyd would get thereafter was 29-22.
Steven Rust paced the Spartans with 14 points and 10 rebounds, while Jonathan Robinette chipped in 14 for West Boyd.
— Gene Cotter
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Archbishop Bergan 79, Kenesaw 47: By the time Wes Eikmeier and his 30.5 points-per-game average even got cranked up, top-ranked Archbishop Bergan was already on cruise control.
The Knights’ defense forced 12 first-half turnovers, and Brian Liekhus scored 11 of Bergan’s first 17 points in leading the Knights (25-0) to a 17-5 lead. Then Eikmeier took over, scoring 19 of Bergan’s next 24 points.
“Our defensive pressure created a lot of turnovers and we turned those into points,” Eikmeier said. “Fortunately it worked out pretty well for us.”
Eikmeier tallied 22 of his game-high 29 points in the first two periods, and Bergan connected on seven three-pointers while building a 41-17 halftime lead.
Trevor Stickels led unranked Kenesaw (14-8) with 15 points, while Evan Bender chipped in 10. Liekhus finished with 18 points for the Knights.
Mead 56, Palmer 46: Normally a shooting percentage of less than 50 from the free throw line will have disastrous results, especially if the offending team racks up 43 total attempts.
For fourth-ranked Mead, however, everything else that needed to happen to help offset the troubles from the charity stripe went exactly as planned.
Nathan Raver came off the Raiders' bench to score 15 points, Eric Johnson threw in 13 more and Mead (20-3) used 10 offensive rebounds in the second half and a strong defense to overcome a 19 for 43 performance from the stripe in a 56-46 win over No. 5 Palmer in the first round of the State Tournament at Lincoln East Thursday morning.
“They started fouling us pretty early. And, why wouldn’t you when we were skanking it up there that badly,” Mead coach PJ Quinn said. “We shot free throws so badly they came back to us on the rebound.”
Neil Kilchriste scored 16 points for the Tigers (20-4) to keep Palmer within 33-32 after three quarter.
But, as the Tigers failed to connect on their first 10 tries from the field in the final quarter, Mead managed to pull away in the fourth quarter by collecting five Palmer turnovers and grabbing rebounds on six of its 15 missed free throws.
“Those are just inexcusable,” Palmer coach Matt Koehler said of the Raider offensive boards. “You have to take advantage when they help you out like that.”
Collins Haag added 10 points for the Tigers. -- Gene Cotter
Hayes Center 90, Callaway 54: The No. 2-seed Cardinals bolted to a big first-half lead and cruised past the No. 7-seed Bears at Lincoln East.
Hayes Center (23-1) was the first team in the tournament to put together consecutive 20-plus-point quarters. The Cardinals led 21-8 after one quarter, 43-15 at halftime and 65-38 at the end of the third. Eleven players scored for coach Louis Cuellar's team, including four in double figures -- Levi Tyan with 24; Keifer Messersmith with 17; Matt Gohl with 14; and Justin Huss with 13.
Rob Keeney had 17 for the Bears, who finished their season 15-5.
Humphrey St. Francis 40, West Boyd 28
When unranked West Boyd (20-6) found a way to slow down 6-foot 10 Humphrey St. Francis center Nathan Noonan, Flyers guard Steve Wemhoff hurt the Spartans.
When West Boyd shut down Wemhoff, Noonan took over once again.
Noonan scored a career-high 20 points, grabbed six boards and blocked six shots, Wemhoff added nine more points, and the Spartans just couldn’t find enough ways to slow down all of the St. Francis threats at the same time as the second-ranked Flyers advanced.
“That gave us the push we needed to keep going,” Noonan said of Wemhoff’s performance once West Boyd slowed him down. “That was a lot of fun.”
Noonan tallied 10 points in the first period but only got one shot in the second. In his absence, Wemhoff scored seven points in leading the Flyers to a 25-17 lead at the break. The closest West Boyd would get thereafter was 29-22.
Steven Rust paced the Spartans with 14 points and 10 rebounds, while Jonathan Robinette chipped in 14 for West Boyd.
— Gene Cotter
Stay with JournalStar.com for tournament updates.
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