Class D-1: Archbishop Bergan, Humphrey SF reach finals

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Friday's Class D-1 semifinal results:

Archbishop Bergan 51, Mead 39: A quick glance at the averages would lead one to believe No. 1 Archbishop Bergan (26-0) has overwhelmed people with its offense this year.

In Friday’s Class D-1 state tournament semifinal against fourth-ranked Mead, the Knights instead went on the defensive.

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Archbishop Bergan's Brian Liekhus beats Mead's Nathan Raver to a loose ball in the Knights' win Friday. (Eric Gregory)

Archbishop Bergan's Brian Liekhus beats Mead's Nathan Raver to a loose ball in the Knights' win Friday. (Eric Gregory)

Although Bergan scored 25.5 points below its average and to its lowest output of the season, a 28-11 rebounding edge, 19 forced turnovers and 35 points from Wes Eikmeier were more than enough to lead the Knights to a 51-39 win at Pershing Center.

“Right now it doesn’t matter what it looks like out there,” Eikmeier said. “It only matters that you’re one point better than the bench across from you.”

The Bergan defense put the clamps on the Raiders, forcing turnovers on eight of the Raiders’  first 10 possessions and didn’t allow a Mead basket until Adam Taylor connected with 3 seconds left in the first period. 

Eikmeier scored all nine of Bergan’s points in the first quarter, then added six more in the second to put the Knights firmly in control 23-14 at halftime. He finished  things off by hitting 10 of 10 free throws in the fourth quarter.

“A lot of people think Bergan scores 70, 80 points a game and that’s all they do,” Mead coach PJ Quinn said. “They score those points because they exert such pressure on you defensively you’re going to turn the ball over at some point.”

Eric Johnson led the Raiders with 11 points, while Josh Charles chipped in 10.

--Gene Cotter

Humphrey St. Francis 65, Hayes Center 57, OT: Kendal Bender had been the go-to-guy all day for No. 2 Humphrey St. Francis, so it stood to reason the Flyers’ senior would have the ball in his hands with the game on the line in the closing seconds Friday.

This time, however, Bender didn’t have any help.

At least for the time being.

Bender hit two free throws with eight-tenths of a second left to force overtime. Once Bender got St. Francis there, fellow senior Randy Foltz scored 10 of his 19 points to lead the Flyers (23-2) to a 65-57 win against No. 3 Hayes Center in the semifinals of the Class D-1 boys state basketball tournament at Pershing Center.

“I was shaking so bad I didn’t even really think about it. I just tried to do my regular routine. Just shoot it and hope for the best,” Bender said. “(Foltz) hits the three, then he hits another one. That just gave us so much momentum. That helped us out a lot.”

Bender had connected for 14 of his game-high 25 points in the first half to lead the Flyers to a 29-23 lead at the break.

But a pair of three-pointers by  Levi Tyan and five points from Matthew Gohl in the third quarter pushed the Cardinals (23-2) to a 41-39 lead after three quarters.

It was a small cushion Hayes Center would maintain until Bender toed the free-throw line with less than a second to play.

“I knew he had them in him. We practice free throws every practice,” Foltz said. “We faced a lot of challenges throughout the game but we just stuck together. Once he hit those I knew the team wanted it bad we’d go out and get it.”

Foltz opened the extra-period with back-to-back three-pointers. Bender followed with a conventional three-point play and St. Francis was off to the races.

Jake Rowley led the Cardinals with 18 points, while Gohl chipped in 13 points and 13 rebounds. Tyan also finished in double figures for Hayes Center with 12 points.

--Gene Cotter