By Bob Hamar
bob.hamar@theindependent.com

Yes, it's a clich, but it's a clich that Hastings St. Cecilia takes to heart.

The Bluehawks' defense came through again Friday in a 46-36 victory over Pierce in a Class C-1 boys state basketball semifinal at the Devaney Center in Lincoln.

"We hang our hat on our defense," junior guard Jake Hamburger said. "We were very well prepared for (Pierce). We watched a lot of film on them. We knew what they were trying to do in their sets and our coaches did a great job preparing us for the game."

The win moves the Bluehawks (22-2) into this morning's 9:30 a.m. state championship game against Bennington (25-0) at the Devaney Center. It will be St. Cecilia's first state final appearance since 1969.

Senior guard Riley Nikkila said co-coach Mike Trader and the St. Cecilia coaching staff had the Bluehawks well-prepared to face a Pierce team that was averaging nearly 60 points a game this season.

"Coach Trader and all of our coaches went through and broke down their films and showed us what each player was doing," Nikkila said. "It helped us out tremendously to know that they are there to break down the film and spend time with that and we can just come through and do what they say.

"Coach is always talking about pressure. Every single day it's pressure, pressure, pressure the ball and we had enough energy to pressure the ball."

The Pierce guards could attest to that. Junior Eric Koehlmoos entered the game averaging 15 points a game while junior Tony Lauters was averaging 10.2 points per game.

Koehlmoos was 1-for-10 from the field and scored six points. Lauters went 0-for-8 from the field and scored just one point.

"They have great guards," Hamburger said. "The Koehlmoos kid and the Lauters kid are tough to guard. All season long we've just worked at putting good pressure on the ball and it paid off today."

The Bluehawks built an 11-7 lead after the end of the first quarter. Pierce (24-1) tied the game at 22 on a basket by Jacob Waslager with 5 minutes, 10 seconds left in the third quarter but the Bluejays never got the lead.

"We said just to keep playing and things would happen offensively for us," Pierce coach Mike Emory said. "If we could have put a run together and made two or three baskets and get the lead, maybe make them play from behind a little bit.

"It just seemed like from the start we were down four to five points and just couldn't close the gap and get over the top."

St. Cecilia held a 30-27 lead going into the fourth quarter. Then the game developed into a foul shooting contest. The Bluehawks made 14 of 25 free throws in the final quarter while Pierce made 7 of 14.

The St. Cecilia defense held Peirce to 12 of 45 shooting (26.7percent) from the field.

"Our defense did a nice job," St. Cecilia co-coach Rob Kober said. "What's nice about it is our bench came in and gave our starters a little breather when they needed it so our defense could stay very intense for four quarters."

Matt Sterup, a 6-foot-6 junior, was one of those players who came off the bench. Sterup finished the game with 10 points and seven rebounds. Sterup hit two free throws early in the fourth quarter after a technical was called on the Pierce bench.

"Lately I've been shooting well from the free-throw line," Sterup said. "We work on it a lot in practice. I've always kind of prided myself on my free throws. I was just shooting well today."

The win sets up a showdown with Bennington for the state title. The Badgers, who are making their first state championship appearance, scored the final 16 points of the game to beat Chadron 55-44 in the other semifinal on Friday.

Sterup said defense will again be a key for the Bluehawks.

"Coach Trader always says that's going to be the most important thing," Sterup said. "Every day in practice, we start with contesting drills don't let them catch the ball. That's the basis for our whole team.

"He's always saying defense wins championships. Hopefully it goes well for us."

HASTINGS SC 46, PIERCE 36

HASTINGS SC (22-2)

Sealey 0-3 5-9 5, Nikkila 3-4 1-6 7, Hamburger 3-9 2-2 10, Wright 1-10-0 2, Anstine 3-3 2-3 8, Esch 0-1 2-2 2, Farmer 0-0 0-0 0, Hinrichs 0-0 2-2 2, M. Sterup 2-2 6-8 10, Souchek 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 12-23 20-32 46

PIERCE (24-1)

Brock Stonacek 2-12 2-3 6, Koehlmoos 1-10 4-7 7, Lauters 0-8 1-2 1, J. Waslager 5-7 3-4 13, C. Waslager 4-8 2-2 10, Silhacek 0-1 0-2 0, Navrkal 0-1 0-2 0, Schultz 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 12-45 12-22 36.

Hastings SC 11 8 11 1646

Pierce 7 7 13 936

3-point goalsHastings SC 2-6 (Hamburger 2-4, Nikkila 0-1, Sealey 0-1). Pierce 0-10 (J.Waslager 0-1, C.Waslager 0-1, Navrkal 0-1, Brock Stonacek 0-2, Lauters 0-5). Fouled outHamburger, Navrkal, C. Waslager. TurnoversHastings SC 24. Total foulsHastings SC 22, Pierce 25. TechnicalsPierce bench.