By Bob Gonderinger
The Independent

In hindsight that may have been a mistake.

St. Cecilia used a huge first half run Thursday to build a 26-8 lead then held on in the late going to defeat Minden 62-50 in the finals of the Class C-1, Subdistrict 8 tournament.

The Bluehawks (18-2) came close to delivering a knockout blow early in the second quarter, as they outscored the Whippets 16-0. Minden suffered through a six-minute-plus drought, going 0-of-5 from the field and committing five turnovers. Blake Wright got a pair of buckets to close the first quarter, then Chris Hamburger opened the second quarter with back to back threes as the St. Cecilia offense, for a time, could do no wrong.

Mroczek said his team was eager to prove that it could stay with the high-powered Bluehawks, but that strategy backfired.

"We wanted to see if we could match their intensity," he said. "It worked for a while, then they went on that run. We just didn't have enough timeouts to slow their momentum. We finally went to the 1-3-1 and that slowed them down; I kind of wish I would've gone to it sooner.

"We were kind of scared, and they out-physicaled us. They were just the better team tonight they just have so many weapons."

However, as quickly as St. Cecilia built its lead, it began to slip away just as rapidly. Minden (16-4) finished the first half with a 9-2 burst in the final two minutes, cutting the lead to single digits before Paul Goedert beat the first half buzzer inside.

"We told the kids if we could go inside, great things would happen," Bluehawks interim co-head coach Rob Kober said. "They came out in the man defense, but it was our defense that set the tempo. We did a nice job on that big run, but then we came down and didn't take care of the ball, and that allowed them right back in it."

Minden opened the second half in strong fashion, as Gavin Blum scored on a putback and Spencer Choquette hit a three to cut the lead to six points only two minutes into the third. That proved to be the pattern for the rest of the half, as Minden time and time again worked to cut the lead to six points, but could never find a way to get any closer. St. Cecilia carried a 10-point lead into the fourth, and for the next five minutes managed to hold off every Whippet assault.

A pair of free throws by Dallis Christensen got Minden back within seven, but Wright answered with a jumper from the line, then Riley Nikkila made a spectacular play on an inbounds pass for the Bluehawks, leaping to deflect the ball and then heading upcourt to take it in for the layup. Blum got an inside basket for Minden with three minutes to play to once again cut the lead to six, but Hamburger responded with another three as the Bluehawks finally began to pull away.

For the second night in a row Hamburger found the floor at Grand Island Senior High very much to his liking as he once again put up 22 points, including four-of-five shots from outside the arc.

"The nice thing about Jake was that he was forcing things a little early," Kober said. "But he became more patient and he played with confidence. He was getting it done for us on both ends of the floor. I thought Riley used his athletic ability wisely tonight. He read guys, set them up and got some key steals for us."

St. Cecilia advances to Monday night's district final against Boone Central, which defeated Central City 60-30 in the Class C-1, Subdistrict 7 final.

At Grand Island

HASTINGS ST. CECILIA 62, MINDEN 50

HASTINGS ST. CECILIA (18-2)

Sealey 1-2 0-0 2, Esch 2-5 3-4 8, Nikkila 3-3 1-4 7, Hamburger 6-12 6-8 22, Wright 6-14 4-4 16, Anstine 1-4 0-0 2, Goedert 1-2 0-0 2, Sterup 1-3 1-2 3. Totals 21-45 15-22 62.

MINDEN (16-4)

Werner 2-8 5-7 10, Choquette 6-11 2-3 16, Blum 3-6 4-5 10, Christensen 4-6 2-3 10, Krull 1-5 2-3 4. Totals 16-36 15-21 50.

Hastings St. Cecilia 16 14 13 1962

Minden 8 11 14 1750

3-Point goalsHSC 5-8 (Sealey 0-1, Esch 1-1, Hamburger 4-5, Wright 0-1), Minden 3-5 (Werner 1-3, Choquette 2-2). Fouled outNone. ReboundsHSC 25 (Wright 7, Nikkila 6), Minden 22 (Blum 10). AssistsHSC 12 (Esch 4), Minden 8 (Choquette 2, Christensen 2). TurnoversHSC 10, Minden 15. Total foulsHSC 20, Minden 21. TechnicalsNone.