Cedar boys can win Conference title with a win Friday

HARTINGTON — Just one more win.

With a win Friday over rival Norfolk Catholic the Cedar Catholic boys basketball team can wrap up the MidStates Conference regular season basketball title.

Cedar, 15-6 heading into Friday’s game, stands at 6-1 in the conference. Wayne and Pierce also have identical 6-1 conference records, but the Trojans beat both of them during regular season action.

Cedar beat the Knights in the MidStates Tourney earlier this month, but beating a team of this quality twice is a difficult task.

“We are going to have to play well on defense to beat them again,” Cedar Catholic Coach Matt Steffen said.

Cedar got to this point with two more conference wins last week.

The Trojans also posted a 1-1 non-conference record for the week.

Cedar started the week off on the wrong foot as they played sluggishly against Homer.

The Trojans lost an ugly contest, 34-33 to the Knights Tuesday, but then rebounded with wins at Battle Creek (48-42) and at home against Pierce (44-40) before finishing out the week with a dominating 64-34 decision over Lutheran High Northeast.

The Homer loss came as a bit of a surprise for the Trojans.

“It was a perfect storm for a loss — everyone on the team was cold shooting at the same time,” Cedar Catholic head coach Matt Steffen said. “Give Homer credit: they limited our possessions by controlling the tempo.”

Tuesday’s game was a sloppy affair with just about as many turnovers and missed opportunities as points.

Homer closed out the first frame with an 11-9 lead over the Trojans. Cedar then held Homer scoreless for the entire second quarter and for nearly half of the third quarter, while putting up 15 points of their own during that 12-minute span.

The Knights finally ended the scoring drought with a short jumper from Timmy Harts to make it 24-13 with 3:38 left in the third quarter

Once the Knights got their offense going they kept it going, putting together an 8-0 run to cut Cedar’s lead to 24-19 heading into the final frame.

Homer hung around the rest of the game and to stay in contention.

With 1:07 left in the game Landon Gilster was fouled, sinking both charity shots to pull the Knights within two points — 31-29.

After a time out for strategy Tate Thoene got the ball at half court and drove the lane to score with just :40 left in the game.

Homer again cut the deficit to two points when Harts grabbed a rebound and put it back in with 23 left in the game to again pull within two.

Harts then knotted it at 33-33 after a slick dish in the paint from Gilster. Harts was fouled on the play and nailed the charity shot with two seconds left to give Homer the upset win.

Tate Thoene and Myles Thoene led the Trojans with 13 and 12 points apiece for the squad as it shot 38.2 percent on the evening.

Homer 11 Ol 8 15 - 34

Cedar 9 4 11 9 - 33

SCORING

Cedar - Tate Thoene, 13; Myles Thoene, 12; Mack Kuehn, 4; Jaxson Bernecker, 2; Carson Arens, 2. Homer - Kaleb Kenzie, 8; Timmy Harris, 8; Grant Lander, 8; Landon Gilster, 7; Kayden Harris, 3.

REBOUNDS

Cedar -Jaxson Bernecker, 8; Mack Kuehn, 5; Myles Thoene, 3; Carson Arens, 2; Tate Thoene, 1.

ASSISTS -

Cedar - Tate Thoene, 3; Myles Thoene 2; Jaxson Bernecker, 1; Carson Arens, 1.

STEALS

Cedar - Tate Thoene, 2; Mack Kuehn, 2; Myles Thoene, 2; Jaxson Bernecker, 2; Davenport Joachimsen, 1.

In the win against Battle Creek, the Trojans used a big first half to secure a bounce back victory.

“We came out and played well in the first half taking a 31-17 lead into the locker room,” Steffen said. “We again ran into a dry spell, but held on to win.”

Jaxson Bernecker had 14 points and nine rebounds and Myles Thoene pitched in with 10 points and nine rebounds as the Trojans improved their shooting to 44.4 percent.

Then in beating Pierce, 44-40, it was all about defense and a senior continuing to step up.

“The kids did a great job of being patient and taking good shots within the offense,” Steffen said. “Myles had a good game and the whole team played well on defense.”

Myles Thoene had 14 points for the Trojans who rallied from a 22-18 halftime deficit while Bernecker went for nine points and eight rebounds.

On Saturday, they wrapped up the week at home with a 64-34 victory over Lutheran High Northeast.

“The kids came out early and really set the tone,” Steffen said.

Since it was Parent’s Night, Steffen started two seniors that have not seen a lot of action so far this season.

“Riley Kuehn and Connor Vlach don’t play much normally, and Riley made a three in the fourth quarter and Connor made a basket in the fourth quarter. Tate and Myles also had nice games for us.”

Myles and Tate Thoene finished with 20 and 17 points against the Eagles.

At one point, Steffen’s team was up by 39 points, which allowed him a chance to get plenty of reserves into the contest.

Cedar 11 7 11 15 - 44

Pierce 9 13 6 12 - 40

SCORING

Cedar - Myles Thoene, 14; Jaxson Bernecker, 8; Carson Arens, 8; Tate Thoene, 6; Mack Kuehn, 4; Carter Arens, 3; Dagan Joachimsen, 1.

REBOUNDS

Cedar - Jaxson Bernecker, 9; Mack Kuehn, 4; Tate Thoene, 2; Myles Thoene, 2; Dagan Joachimsen, 1; Carson Arens, 1.

ASSISTS

Cedar - Myles Thoene, 6; Jaxson Bernecker, 3; Tate Thoene, 2.

STEALS

Cedar - Myles Thoene, 3; Tate Thoene, 2; Dagan Joachimsen, 1; Carter Arens, 1.

Cedar 12 19 10 7 - 48

-Battle Creek 10 7 13 12 - 42

SCORING

Cedar - Jaxson Bernecker, 14; Myles Thoene, 10; Tate Thoene, 7; Carson Arens, 5; Carter Arens, 5; Hunter Thoene, 4; Mac Kuehn, 2; Dagan Joachimsen, 1.

REBOUNDS

Cedar - Jaxson Bernecker, 9; Myles Thoene, 9; Tate Thoene, 3; Dagan Joachimsen, 3; Carson Arens, 2; Mack Kuehn, 1; Carter Arens, 1.

ASSISTS

Cedar - Carson Arens, 4; Tate Thoene, 3; Jaxson Bernecker, 2; Myles Thoene, 2.

STEALS

Cedar - Tate Thoene, 2; Carter Arens, 1; Jaxson Bernecker, 1; Myles Thoene, 3.

Cedar 22 16 14 12 - 64

22 16 14 12 - 64 Luth High NE10 0 10 14 - 34

SCORING

Cedar - Myles Thoene, 20; Tate Thoene, 17; Jaxson Bernecker, 7; Carson Arens, 4; Mack Kuehn, 4; Dagan Joachimsen, 3; Riley Kuehn, 3; Carter Arens, 2; Hunter Thoene, 2; Connor Vlach, 2 .

REBOUNDS

Cedar - Carson Arens, 6; Tate Thoene, 4; Carter Arens, 3; Jaxson Bernecker, 2; Hunter Thoene, 2; Riley Kuehn, 1; Mack Kuehn, 1; Connor Vlach, 1; Jay Steffen, 1.

ASSISTS

Cedar - Myles Thoene, 4; Tate Thoene, 3; Carson Arens, 3; Dagen Joachimsen, 2; Blake Arens, 1; Grant Arens, 1; Jaxson Bernecker, 1; Riley Kuehn, 1.

STEALS -

Cedar - Tate Thoene, 4; Myles Thoene, 3; Carson Arens, 1; Dagen Joachmisen, 1.

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