Cedar runs away from Crofton in tourney opener

WAYNE — The buckets came early and often in opening round action Tuesday of the boys C2-5 SubDistrict tournament.

The top seeded Cedar Catholic Trojans were in the driver’s seat from the start against the fourth-seeded Crofton Warriors.

Myles Thoene and Jaxson Bernecker each tallied four first-quarter scores for the Trojans. They also put in solid defensive play to limit the Warriors to just four points in the first frame.

Cedar, in its smothering full-court press, caused several early offensive miscues from Crofton resulting in errant passes, turnovers and steals for the Trojans.

A floating jump shot from six-foot senior Brady Steffen forced the Warriors to regroup on the sidelines trailing 11-4, before Bernecker knocked down another shot as time expired, capping off a 9-0 run by the Trojans ending the first quarter.

Things didn’t get much prettier for the Warriors from then on, as Steffen ignited his own scoring run for the Trojans connecting on backto-back 3-point attempts to start the second quarter. Steffen closed out his 10-point second period performance with a layup off of a beautiful back door assist from Myles Thoene. The Crofton offense enjoyed a short lived 4-0 run in the third quarter, before the Trojans erupted for 27 points led by Bernecker who would account for his 13th point of the night by way of hook shot, followed by a massive block back on the defensive side of the court.

That block resulted in Steffen driving the dagger even further into Crofton with a 3-point shot as time expired to an erupting Cedar Catholic crowd.

Trojan sophomore Tate Thoene knocked down a 3-pointer deep in the fourth quarter extending Cedar’s lead to 64-34, before the Trojan defense took over smothering the Warrior offense to run out the clock, and walk off the court with a 74-41 victory.

The Cedar offense was paced on the night by a trio of double-figure scorers.

Leading the way was Brady Steffen with a game-high 18 points, followed closely byJaxson Bernecker with 17 points and Myles Thoene with 11.

Crofton 4 7 18 12 —41

Cedar 13 17 27 17 - 74

SCORING

Cedar - Brady Steffen, 18; Jaxson Bernecker, 17; Myles Thoene, 11; Tate Thoene, 7; Charlie Schroeder, 6; Hunter Thoene, 4; Carter Arens, 4; Ethan Becker, 4; Carson Arens, 3.