Class D-1: Eikmeier scores 43 in Bergan win

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Saturday's Class D-1 results:

Championship: Archbishop Bergan 56, Humphrey St. Francis 43

For Wes Eikmeier, it was more about hardware and decorations than it was about his own handiwork.

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Archbishop Bergan's Wes Eikmeier takes a shot in the Knights' state championship win on Saturday. (William Lauer)

Archbishop Bergan's Wes Eikmeier takes a shot in the Knights' state championship win on Saturday. (William Lauer)

For No. 1 Archbishop Bergan (27-0) on the other hand, it was mostly about Eikmeier.

In scoring 43 points Saturday at the Devaney Sports Center, Eikmeier collected a handful of individual, single-game and state tournament records.

More importantly to the Knights, a 56-43 win against second-ranked Humphrey St. Francis (23-3) in the finals of the Class D-1 Boys State Basketball Tournament at the Devaney Sports Center gave Bergan its first state title since 1987.

“I don’t want to talk about stats. All of the guys wanted this as bad as I did. We just had to go out here and prove something,” Eikmeier said. “I came here for one reason and that was to hold that big trophy and hang a banner in our gym. This is for everybody. Our school. Our community. Especially my teammates.”

It was good news for Bergan that Eikmeier was hot, because the rest of the team was anything but.

Eikmeier connected on 10 of his first 15 attempts from the field while leading the Knights to a 26-20 lead. He accounted for 24 of Bergan’s first 26 points, but the rest of the Knights managed to hit  just 1 of their first 13 attempts.

The Flyers stayed close with six points from Kendal Bender, five more from Steve Wemhoff and 8-of-19 shooting from the floor.

As the game wore on, however, turnovers and Eikmeier took their toll.

St. Francis pulled to 39-36 early in the fourth quarter with a Wemhoff free throw, but 24 turnovers, 6-of-19 shooting in the second half and a 12-3 run from Bergan pushed the Knights to the win.

“We weren’t trying to beat Wes, we were trying to beat Bergan,” St. Francis coach Eric Kessler said. “At the half we felt pretty good about things. Then they had some other kids jump out and make some shots.”

Randy Foltz lead the Flyers with 13 points, while Bender added 11.

Eikmeier’s 43 points erased the previous Class D-1 single-game record of 41 established by Brian Wilson of Culbertson in 1997.

The 6-foot 3 Iowa State recruit scored 107 points in the tournament, breaking the D-1 mark of 95 set by Ken Sander of St. Francis in 1990.

In four state tournament games in his career, Eikmeier has averaged 36.5 points per contest. His 16 field goals Saturday also tied the single-game mark set by Sander in 1990 and Chad Ideus of Adams in 1992.

“He’s a unique player. He’s a special player. Big-time players always step up in big-time games,” Bergan coach Chris Paulson said. “He is one of a kind. If anybody had any doubts about his abilities probably got their eyes opened a bit today.”

--Gene Cotter

Third place: Hayes Center 61, Mead 46

Hayes Center held a 31-18 lead at halftime and cruised to the Class D-1 third-place win. Levi Tyan and Jake Rowley each had 14 points for Hayes Center, including four three-point goals from Tyan. For Mead, Eric Johnson and Adam Taylor had 12 points apiece.