Class D-2: Falls City Sacred Heart wins championship
Saturday's Class D-2 results:
Championship: Falls City Sacred Heart 66, Pleasanton 54
Falls City Sacred Heart’s Bryce Ebel stepped up big when his team needed it most Saturday and sparked the fourth-ranked Irish to a 66-54 win against second-ranked Pleasanton in the Class D-2 championship game at the Devaney Sports Center.
Sacred Heart’s leading scorer, forward Caleb Pokorny, left the game with an injury to his left ankle with 59.9 seconds left in the third quarter and the Irish (26-2) clinging to a 44-38 lead.
With Pokorny gone, Ebel hit a three-point shot from the right corner with 3 seconds left in the quarter and converted a traditional three-point play 1½ minutes into the fourth to expand Sacred Heart’s lead to 50-38. Pleasanton didn’t get closer than 10 points after that.
Ebel scored 16 points to pace the Irish to their eighth state title. Elijah Zwiener led all scorers with 22 points and all rebounders with nine for Pleasanton (24-2).
Sacred Heart raced to a 20-9 lead early in the second quarter, as five different Irish players scored. Sacred Heart limited the Bulldogs to 21.4 percent field-goal shooting in the first quarter (3-of-14) while forcing five Pleasanton turnovers.
The Irish stretched its lead to 23-11 on a free throw by Pokorny with 5 minutes and 47 seconds left in the first half, but Pleasanton began to find Zwiener open inside and the Bulldogs’ center powered a 17-6 rally. Zwiener scored six points in the run, which culminated in two free throws by Jordan Axmann with 14.6 seconds to go, cutting Pleasanton’s deficit to 29-28.
Joe Santo answered with a long three at the buzzer, though, to extend the Irish lead to 32-28 at halftime.
--Tom Simons
Third place: Hampton 58, St. Mary's 35
The Hawks cruised past the Cardinals in the third-place game Saturday. They led 31-15 at the half and 46-25 after three quarters. Dylan Bamesberger had 19 points for Hampton and Dwayne Wall had 13.
St. Mary's got 12 points from Andrew Krotter and eight from Cody Eiler.
Stay with JournalStar.com for updates.
Championship: Falls City Sacred Heart 66, Pleasanton 54
Falls City Sacred Heart’s Bryce Ebel stepped up big when his team needed it most Saturday and sparked the fourth-ranked Irish to a 66-54 win against second-ranked Pleasanton in the Class D-2 championship game at the Devaney Sports Center.
Sacred Heart’s leading scorer, forward Caleb Pokorny, left the game with an injury to his left ankle with 59.9 seconds left in the third quarter and the Irish (26-2) clinging to a 44-38 lead.
With Pokorny gone, Ebel hit a three-point shot from the right corner with 3 seconds left in the quarter and converted a traditional three-point play 1½ minutes into the fourth to expand Sacred Heart’s lead to 50-38. Pleasanton didn’t get closer than 10 points after that.
Ebel scored 16 points to pace the Irish to their eighth state title. Elijah Zwiener led all scorers with 22 points and all rebounders with nine for Pleasanton (24-2).
Sacred Heart raced to a 20-9 lead early in the second quarter, as five different Irish players scored. Sacred Heart limited the Bulldogs to 21.4 percent field-goal shooting in the first quarter (3-of-14) while forcing five Pleasanton turnovers.
The Irish stretched its lead to 23-11 on a free throw by Pokorny with 5 minutes and 47 seconds left in the first half, but Pleasanton began to find Zwiener open inside and the Bulldogs’ center powered a 17-6 rally. Zwiener scored six points in the run, which culminated in two free throws by Jordan Axmann with 14.6 seconds to go, cutting Pleasanton’s deficit to 29-28.
Joe Santo answered with a long three at the buzzer, though, to extend the Irish lead to 32-28 at halftime.
--Tom Simons
Third place: Hampton 58, St. Mary's 35
The Hawks cruised past the Cardinals in the third-place game Saturday. They led 31-15 at the half and 46-25 after three quarters. Dylan Bamesberger had 19 points for Hampton and Dwayne Wall had 13.
St. Mary's got 12 points from Andrew Krotter and eight from Cody Eiler.
Stay with JournalStar.com for updates.
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