By Bob Hamar
bob.hamar@theindependent.com

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Independent/Scott Kingsley Central Catholic's Spencer Fahey shoots over Deshler's Daniel Werner during the first half of their C2 state championship first round matchup at Lincoln Southeast High school. Independent/Scott Kingsley Central Catholic's Sam Bolton drives the lane and causes Deshler's Daniel Werner to commit his fifth foul forcing him to leave the game. Central Catholic was trailing but turned the game around after Bolton got the bucket and the extra free throw. Central Catholic came from behind to win 43-32. Click Thumbnails to View

But the Crusaders went on a 22-1 run in the final 5 minutes, 30 seconds to post a come-from-behind 43-32 victory over the Dragons.

"I thought it was just guts and courage," GICC coach Bill Gavers said. "In the third quarter when we were down 11, we talked about how it was a battle of wills. We were getting a little bit frustrated. We talked about how it wasn't a battle of skills at that point. It was a battle of wills."

The player wearing jersey No. 14 seemed to have the toughest will for the Crusaders (16-7) in the fourth quarter. The roster said No. 14 was Erick Ortiz, but it wasn't in this case.

Spencer Fahey, who normally wears No. 12, switched to No. 14 early in the fourth quarter after getting blood on his jersey.

Fahey scored nine of his game-high 20 in the final quarter, including a 6-for-6 performance from the free-throw line.

"Spencer is a great basketball player and a better kid," Gavers said. "He makes great decisions with the ball. He's just a complete player. He made a huge difference."

Fahey said the Crusaders knew they couldn't panic when they were behind early.

"It's a long game," Fahey said. "You can't do it all in the beginning so we just had to stay with it and keep fighting. We were doing well on defense. We just needed to be more patient on offense."

The Crusaders scored just 14 points in the opening half against the Dragons (22-2). The third quarter wasn't any better. Fahey hit his first field goal of the game, a 3-pointer with 3 minutes, 45 seconds left in the quarter and added another two-point goal a bit later.

But those were the only points for GICC in the quarter as Deshler took a 27-19 lead into the fourth.

"GICC plays a great schedule," Deshler coach Ryan Hogue said. "You don't play Beatrice to overtime, you don't play Boys Town to overtime and match up with those kinds of teams and not play good defense.

"We knew it was going to be a low-scoring game. We thought our defense would be able to hold them down enough, but late in the game it didn't work."

Jens Scholl hit two free throws to give the Dragons a 31-21 lead with 6:10 left in the fourth. That's when the Crusaders began to take over.

The run started when Turner Fahey hit 1-of-2 free throws. Sam Bolton scored inside and was fouled. He missed the free throw but Luke Wagoner grabbed the rebound and scored for what was essentially a four-point play.

That pulled GICC to within 31-26. Fahey, now wearing No. 14, hit a long 3-pointer, then nailed two straight free throws to tie the score at 31-31 with 4:02 remaining.

Two more free throws by Fahey, another bucket inside by Bolton and the Crusaders were on their way to a semifinal game against Ravenna.

"It was really courageous," Fahey said. "We all stayed together. When we got down early we didn't break apart. We didn't start going away from each other. We fought back. I think that's what helped us win"

Scholl led Deshler with 10 points. Werner, a 6-foot-6 senior, had eight points and nine rebounds, but fouled out with five minutes left in the game.

Scholl later picked up his fifth personal foul as well.

"That was huge," Gavers said. "We said we have to go at those guys Scholl and Werner and try to get them in foul trouble because they're all-state caliber players. They're great players and so getting him off the floor opened up some things inside. When we drove, we weren't shooting over a 6-6 shot blocker.

"Any time you can get their best players on the sidelines, it's a tremendous advantage."

The win sets up a semifinal rematch against No. 1-rated Ravenna. The two teams met early in the season with the Bluejays taking a 49-45 victory.

Gavers said the Crusaders will need the same type of effort against Ravenna that they had against Deshler.

"The type of guts and courage we showed today, we're going to need again tomorrow," Gavers said. "We're going to need a championship effort again in order to beat what I think was the tournament favorite coming in. Ravenna has played extremely well all year. Their kids are well-coached. They play hard every time out. It's great to have that opportunity tomorrow."

GRAND ISLAND CC 43, DESHLER 32

GRAND ISLAND CC (16-7)

Buck 0-1 1-2 1, S. Fahey 3-12 12-12 20, O'Connor 1-7 1-3 3, Bolton 4-9 2-3 10, Wagoner 1-1 0-2 2, T. Fahey 0-2 5-6 5, Wiens 1-2 0-0 2, Howard 0-1 0-0 2. Totals 10-34 21-27 43.

DESHLER (22-2)

Scholl 3-13 2-2 10, Renz 1-6 0-0 2, Meyer 2-5 1-5 7, Dlouhy 0-0 0-0 0, Schardt 1-2 0-0 2, Loupin 1-1 0-0 3, Werner 4-5 0-2 8. Totals 12-35 3-11 32.

Grand Island CC 8 6 5 2443

Deshler 9 11 7 431

3-Point goalsGICC 2-6 (S. Fahey 2-3, Wiens 0-1, O'Connor 0-3). Deshler 5-9 (Meyer 2-2, Scholl 2-9, Loupin 1-1, Firley 0-1, Renz 0-3). Fouled outWerner, Scholl. ReboundsGICC 29 (Wagoner 10). Deshler 26 (Werner 9). TurnoversGICC 15, Deshler 19. Total foulsGICC 17, Deshler 23. TechnicalsNone.

Seats available on GICC fan bus

There are eight seats available on the Grand Island Central Catholic band bus for Friday's 2 p.m. Class C-2 boys state basketball tournament semifinal game against Ravenna.

The bus will leave at 10:45 a.m. Adult and student tickets for the game can be purchased from 9:30-10:30 a.m. Friday at GICC.

Also, there are three adult small state tournament T-shirts available to purchase at GICC for $10 each.