By Bob Gonderinger
sports.desk@theindependent.com

After holding a 23-13 halftime advantage, Heartland Lutheran pounded out 37 second-half points against the Eagles. Senior Matt Wagnitz provided the spark offensively after being held scoreless in the first half, hitting three 3-pointers in the third period. That abruptly shut down a mini-rally by Nebraska Christian that twice cut the lead to eight. Wagnitz nearly grabbed a triple double, as he finished with 11 points, grabbed 17 rebounds and finished with nine assists, with several of the latter resulting in fast-break baskets in the second half.

Heartland Lutheran coach Lloyd Wagnitz noted that his team was missing senior guard Jesse Bartels due to illness, and his absence took some getting used to, but also that his team was still dealing with issues from last week.

"We had a bad game Friday," Wagnitz said. "It's one we should have won, and it was hard to get the team up for tonight. We definitely had a hangover yet we were pretty disappointed. We didn't want Jesse to have that game Friday as the last one of his career, so hopefully he'll be able to play Tuesday."

Nebraska Christian coach Rob Ziegler gave his team credit for coming out and playing the game it needed to against the more experienced Red Hornets.

"We handled the pressure tonight," he said. "I'm really pleased with our effort and the way the guys hung in there. They were really unflappable out there - they kept their composure."

Ziegler noted that his team was able to do what it wanted offensively in terms of generating open looks, but simply wasn't able to connect on enough shots from outside. The Eagles put up 33 of their 49 shots from outside the arc, but connected on only six.

"We just couldn't hit the shots," Ziegler said. "We got good looks from the guys we wanted to have the ball, but we just didn't put the ball in the hole. I did think we did a better job in the second half getting some shots in closer off rebounds."

Heartland Lutheran (10-8) got much of its first half offense from Jacob Salter, who hit a pair of threes and opened the second quarter with a nice pass underneath to Andrew Messersmith for the basket. Junior Ben Thiessen helped anchor the Eagle attack, which found some success inside in the second quarter, and Thiessen kept his team within striking distance with a pair of buckets late in the second period.

It all came undone for Nebraska Christian (0-18) midway through the third period, though, as Wagnitz hit his third consecutive three-point try to push the Red Hornet lead back to double digits, then rifled a pass inside from just past half court for an easy basket by Ben Rauert. Heartland Lutheran was able to get its running game cranked up in the final period, scoring 20 points over the final eight minutes to advance to Tuesday night's semifinal game against No. 1 seed Palmer.

Salter finished with 17 to lead all scorers, while Rauert backed up Wagnitz's effort with 10. Casey Rose topped the Eagle effort with 10 points as well.

Wagnitz the coach acknowledged that Wagnitz the player had done much more for his team than just score points himself.

"He had a nice game," he admitted with a smile. "He passes the ball really well. I think that's what I'm going to miss the most. It's almost more fun to watch him pass the ball than it is to see him score."

At Central City

HEARTLAND LUTHERAN 60, NEBRASKA CHRISTIAN 36

NEBRASKA CHRISTIAN (0-18)

Ryu 1-3 0-0 3, Ritta 0-1 0-0 0, Murphy 0-1 0-0 0, Kim 0-1 0-0 0, Rose 3-12 2-2 10, Chang 0-2 0-0 0, Richardson 3-10 0-0 8, Yang 2-11 0-0 5, Thiessen 3-5 2-5 8, Lee 0-1 0-0 0, Troester 0-2 2-4 2. Totals 12-49 6-11 36.

HEARTLAND LUTHERAN (10-8)

Salter 7-20 0-0 17, J. Messersmith 3-6 0-0 6, Wagnitz 4-13 0-0 11, A. Messersmith 4-9 0-0 8, Kreutzer 1-4 2-5 4, Seim 1-3 0-0 2, Rauert 4-5 2-2 10, Kowalski 0-1 2-2 2. Totals 24-61 6-9 60.

Nebraska Christian 7 6 13 1036

Heartland Lutheran 10 13 17 2060

3-Point goalsNC 6-33 (Ryu 1-3, Ritta 0-1, Kim 0-1, Rose 2-10, Chang 0-2, Richardson 2-9, Yang 1-7), HL 6-21 (Salter 3-10, J. Messersmith 0-1, Wagnitz 3-10). Fouled outNone. ReboundsNC 26 (Thiessen 11), HL 46 (Wagnitz 17). AssistsNC 6 (Rose 2, Yang 20), HL 17 (Wagnitz 9). TurnoversNC 11, HL 10. Total foulsNC 7, HL 8. TechnicalsNone.