El Dorado tournament: Kapaun, El Dorado win in semis

Kapaun Mount Carmel had seen what had happened to higher seeds at the Bluestem Classic.

So, in the semifinals Friday, the fourth-seeded Crusaders were determined not to let an upset happen, jumping out to a 12-3 lead over eighth-seeded Campus and never surrendering it in a 55-43 semifinal victory Friday night.

In Saturday’s final Kapaun (5-5) will face No. 7 seed El Dorado (3-7), which held on for a 40-37 semifinal victory over Trinity Academy.

The Crusaders have won the Bluestem Classic five times, most recently in 2014.

Coach John Cherne has a team that is mainly underclassmen.

“We’re still young, we’re still growing, going through the City League is tough, and we’re still learning game-to-game,” he said. “But (Friday), we grew up a little bit.”

Fortunately, there is an experienced senior to guide them.

Brock Monty led the attack against Campus (1-9) with 18 points, six of which came in the first quarter when he hit a three-pointer and three free throws after being fouled on another three-point attempt.

Although the offense was impressive in running to a 28-18 halftime lead, establishing the defense was a priority, Monty said.

“Honestly, we came out with the mindset of defense,” he said. “We turned the defense into offense, and it allowed us to play better offense, and so that’s where it came from.”

The Crusaders twice forced the Colts into 10-second calls at midcourt.

“Going into the game, we were concerned about getting defensive stops,” he said. “Getting those two 10-second calls was really big for us. We’ve been trying to get better defensively.”

Junior guard Thomas Wells hit three of Kapaun’s seven three-pointers, and junior Chris Meitzner hit two more.

“Oh, wow, considering on the year we’re shooting roughly about 30 percent, that was a good night,” Cherne said.

Campus coach Chris Davis said he liked the way his team played, especially in the third quarter, when the Colts battled back and cut the deficit to 10 points.

“I’m probably just as happy with the stretch that we had midway through the third quarter,” he said. “It was going south for us in a hurry, and we fought and had a chance to cut it to a single-digit lead.”

El Dorado 40, Trinity Academy 37 – After taking a 25-11 halftime lead, the host Wildcats (3-7) held on when a tying three-point attempt by Jeremy Newport bounced away as the buzzer sounded.

Junior Trevor Burnett scored eight of his game-high 15 points in the first quarter, helping the Wildcats take the early lead.

“We kept shooting ourselves in the foot, but at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter,” El Dorado coach Jordon Regehr said. “We came out with the ‘W.’ ”

Collegiate 51, Great Bend 31 – Cameron Christian was held to nine points, but the Spartans (8-2) raced to a 17-3 lead after one quarter and 34-13 at halftime. Sophomore Cody McNerney was the only Collegiate player in double figures, with 16. Trey Ibarra’s 12 points led Great Bend (3-7), which will face Circle in the seventh-place game.

Newton 70, Circle 50 – The Railers (5-6) pulled away from a 32-30 halftime lead and outscored the Thunderbirds (7-4) 38-20 in the second half. Senior Tevin Berry scored 26 points for Newton. Brendan Horyna scored 16 points and Cal Hartley 14 for No. 2 seed Circle.

This story was originally published January 22, 2016 at 11:29 PM with the headline "El Dorado tournament: Kapaun, El Dorado win in semis."