BY JIM MISUNAS
jmisunas@gbtribune.com
When Alec Carlson capped a 9-0 scoring burst, the Pawnee Heights Tigers led McPherson Elyria Christian 31-30 with under two minutes left in the third quarter in the 1A Division 2 basketball semifinal.
The Tiger crowd roared in their first state basketball trip since 1972.
The dream of a state basketball championship game was alive at Barton Community College's Kirkman Center.
But the Eagles outscored the Tigers 25-11 in the final 10 minutes for a 55-42 semifinal victory. The Eagles converted 16 Tiger turnovers into 18 points and added 12 second-chance points off 12 offensive rebounds. The 30 bonus points were too much for the Tigers to overcome.
The Tigers' top scoring trio all performed admirably. Adam Hands scored 15 points. Versatile Alec Carlson scored 13 points with three assists. Braden Colglazier contributed 11 points with 11 rebounds.
The Tigers lose defensive sparkplug Felipe Cordero, Jr., but return five of their top six players from a 14-10 state qualifier.
"This game leaves a bad taste in our mouths. We'll be back next year because we gained a lot of experience," Colglazier said. "We reached the state tournament and proved we could beat good basketball teams. We still need more experience on the court. We'll be a better passing team next year."
The Tigers (14-10) lost a state semifinal game in their first state basketball trip since 1972.
"The turnovers were big," said Pawnee Heights coach Ty Josefiak. "That made the difference where we couldn't catch up to them. We fought hard, but it was heartbreaking and disappointing to finish the way we did. They made more plays than we did."
The Eagles defended Carlson with Kaden Aroum, Ben Unruh and Joshua Allen. Carlson's attacking style was also slowed by foul trouble. He drew his third foul on the last play of the first half. He played the final 11 minutes with four fouls.
"Elyria did a great job defending Alec," Josefiak said. "They were a physical and good defensive team. We settled for outside shots. We forced things a bit and didn't run our offense that fourth quarter because we were trying to catch up."
Carlson scored seven consecutive points after Colglazier's score to turn a 30-22 deficit into a 31-30 lead. Elyria's Josef Hobson made the game's signature play when he rescued a loose ball that turned into Keyan Wiggers' basket for a 34-31 lead.
"We did a good job moving and sharing the basketball," Josefiak said. "We would've liked to work the ball inside better."
The Eagles outscored the Tigers 21-11 in the fourth quarter. They scored six transition points and four points on rebounds. Elyria's Bret Anderson led the way with 18 points, six off transition and four on second-chance points. Zach Stucky scored 16 points, six on fast break layups and five on second-chance scores.
The Eagles showed discipline and teamwork with seven turnovers and 21 of 45 field goal shooting.
"We have a lot of confidence to get back to state," Josefiak said. "We gained a ton of experience. The guys will be better basketball players next year."
BY ALEX HAMMEKE
Tournament Correspondent
HANOVER BOYS 85, NORTHERN VALLEY 58
Hanover will advance to their 9th state championship game on Saturday evening, as the Wildcats capitalized on 22 Northern Valley turnovers, in lieu to a 85-58 victory over the Huskies.
Northern Valley started off with the ball and quickly gave up their first turnover, which Jacob Jueneman converted into a three point play on the hoop-n-harm jumper. Hanover would quickly take over the ballgame early, as two Northern Valley timeouts could not stop a 13-0 Wildcat run to start the contest. When Northern Valley started scoring, the Huskies had big three pointers from Kenton Thalheim and Eric Loya. The first semifinal game looked to become a bit more competitive after the 6-0 run, but Hanover jumped back out with a 12-1 run, ending the quarter with a corner three pointer from Keagan Dimler.
Colton Bailey looked to get Northern Valley back into the game, as the Sophomore started the second quarter with a 4-0 run. Both teams would trade buckets until Hanover broke off again with a 7-0 run from Emmitt and Colin Jueneman, before Jeremiah Hansen would stop the run with a three pointer. Loya would add a pair of free throws to start a 5-0 Huskie run, but Hanover would take control again, extending the lead to 17 heading into the locker room.
Northern Valley, looking to put their dismal 5-21 3pt performance from the first half behind them, started off with a three point shot from Bailey Sides to cut the lead down to as low as 16, but a Dimler bucked and a dunk from Emmitt Jueneman pushed the lead back out to 20. Sides would respond with another three point shot, and a foul on Thalheim would add a free throw to cut the lead back down to 16. But much like every short run built by Northern Valley, Hanover would overpower the Huskies. Hanover would hit back to back three pointers from Phillip Doebele and Emmitt Jueneman, alongside a pair of Jacob Jueneman free throws, pushing the lead out to 24. Both teams traded buckets, before Hanover would go off for a 6-0 Wildcat run. Northern Valley would finish out the quarter with three point shots from Loya and Hansen for a 6-0 run to cancel out the Hanover run.
Hanover closed out the fourth quarter with ease, as a 6-0 Northern Valley run from Sides and Hansen was met with a 8-0 run to close the door on Northern Valley.
Four Wildcats finished in double digits. Blake Hynek led all scorers with a 24pt/11reb double double. Emmitt Jueneman was right behind Hynek with 22 and 6 steals, Jacob Jueneman had 15 points, including a perfect 3-3 from the arc, and Keagan Dimler had 13 points and 7 assists.
Northern Valley was led off the bench from Colton Bailey. Bailey went 6-8 from the field and 3-4 from the charity stripe for 15 points. Bailey Sides had 14 points and 7 assists, while Eric Loya had 13 points and three steals.
Hanover will look to add a basketball title on top of their 2020 football title on Saturday, when they take on the winner of Elyria Christian and Pawnee Heights.
1A DIV. 2 BOYS SEMIFINALS
FRIDAY GREAT BEND
Hanover 85, Northern Valley 58
McPherson Elyria 55, Pawnee Heights 42
SATURDAY'S 6 p.m. FINALS—Hanover 22-1 vs. McPherson Elyria 16-9
Pawnee Heights 9 13 9 11 — 42
McPherson Elyria 5 18 11 21 — 55
PAWNEE HEIGHTS (14-10)—Hands 6-12 0-0 15, Carlson 6-13 0-2 13, Colglazier 3-7 1-3 11, Hamby 1-4 0-0 3, Dakota Ryan 0-1 0-0 0, Cordero, Jr. 0-1 0-0 0, Totals 18-38 1-5 42
ELYRIA (16-9)—Anderson 9-12 0-1 18, Stucky 5-9 5-7 16, Hobson 3-11 4-6 10, Wiggers 3-5 0-0 6, Aroum 0-4 24 2, Unruh 1-4 0-0 3, Totals 21-45 11-18 55
3-pointers—PH 5-15 (Hands 3-6, Hamby 1-3, Carlson 1-5, Colglazier 0-1), E 2-10 (Unruh 1-1, Stucky 1-2, Aroum 0-3, Hobson 0-4). Rebounds—PH 24 (Colglazier 11), E 28 (Wiggers 9). Assists—PH 7 (Carlson 3), E 11 (Stucky 4). Steals—PH 2 (Carlson 1, Cordero 1), E 9 (Anderson 4). TO—PH 16, E 7
HANOVER 85, NO. VALLEY 58
Blake Hynek scored 24 points and Emmitt Jueneman tallied 22 points as No. 1 ranked Hanover roared past Almena-Northern Valley 85-58 in Friday's 1A Division 2 semifinals.
Northern Valley 7 23 20 8 — 58
Hanover 25 22 22 16 — 85
NORTHERN VALLEY (14-10)—Colton Bailey 6-8 3-4 15, Sides 5-17 0-0 14, Loya 4-11 2-2 13, Cox 0-1 0-2 0, Thalheim 2-6 1-3 7, Brands 0-4 0-0 0, Hansen 3-11 0-0 9, Preston 0-1 0-0 0, Totals 20-59 6-11 58
HANOVER (22-1)—Hynek 8-16 8-12 24, Emmitt Jueneman 9-13 3-4 22, Jacob Jueneman 6-10 3-3 15, Dinler 5-11 2-3 13, Collin Jueneman 1-4 0-0 2, Klipp 1-1 0-1 2, Doebele 2-6 0-0 5, Zarybnicky 0-1 0-0 0, Cook 0-0 2-2 2, Totals 32-62 18-25 85
3-pointers—NV 12-38 (Sides 4-13, Loya 3-8, Hansen 3-9, Thalheim 2-5, Brands 0-2, Preston 0-1), H 3-11 (Dinler 1-3, E. Jueneman 1-3, Doebele 1-4, J. Jueneman 0-1). Rebounds—NV 34 (Cox 5), H 43 (Hynek 11). Assists—NV 12 (Sides 7), H 16 (Dinler 6). Steals—NV 7 (Loya 3), H 15 (E. Jueneman 6). TO—NV 22, H 15
