BOYS STATE BASKETBALL: Sacred Heart Claims 11th State Title, Defeating Parkview Christian In D2

LINCOLN–(KFOR Mar. 13)–Class D2 top-ranked Parkview Christian had a two-point lead at halftime get quickly erased by state tournament and championship regular Falls City Sacred Heart on Saturday evening.

The Patriots could not recover and the No. 7 seeded Irish used a 12-2 run in the third quarter to take complete control and repeat as Class D2 boys basketball state champion, with a 64-47 victory at Pinnacle Bank Arena in a game heard on KFOR.

Falls City Sacred Heart (20-7) claimed their 11th state title, their second consecutive and third in four year, under longtime head coach Doug Goltz.   The Irish went 11-1 to finish out the season and were not highly-favored to repeat as D2 state champion.

Trailing 29-27 at the start of the third quarter, Sacred Heart utilized their 2-3 zone defense that prompted Parkview Christian to commit turnovers.  That resulted in the Irish getting help from 6-3 senior Jack Fiegener. who would score nine of his game-high 22 points in the period, while Jacob Froeschl scored six of his 14 points during the run.  Sacred Heart led 47-40 heading into the fourth quarter.

By this point, the Patriots (27-2) were hoping to drum up a run in the final period to get back into reach.  But turnovers and unable to develop any sort of shooting rhythm from outside (5-of-25 for 20% from three-point range), Parkview Christian couldn’t recover.  The Patriots shot 40% overall from the field and were at 36% from the free-throw line on 4 of 11 attempts.

Sacred Heart’s other double-digit scorer was Jakob Jordan, who finished with 13 points.

Parkview Christian was led by junior guard Jaheim Curry’s 17 points, while other junior guard Michael Ault added 13 points.