Cedar is surprised by Palmyra in District title game

OAKLAND — Cedar Catholic saw a good run come to a sad end Saturday.

A great season came to a sudden halt in Saturday’s district final, where the Trojans saw their run end with a 52-44 defeat to Palmyra (19-6).

“Palmyra did a nice job of switching up their defenses from zone to man and put a lot of pressure on our guards the whole game,” CCHS head coach Matt Steffen said. “I also felt the 6’6” and 6’7” kids inside changed some of our shots and made it difficult to get inside on them. I thought our kids battled the whole game, defended well and rebounded well.

Steffen was facing off with former Cedar Catholic football and assistant girls basketball coach Zach Wemhoff, who is now guiding Palmyra.

Palmyra led 13-11 with two minutes to go in the first quarter before the Trojans’ Charlie Schroeder hit back-to-back buckets – one a 3-pointer – to put Cedar on top 16-13 at the end of the first frame.

A couple of cold shooting spells helped give Palmyra the momentum they needed to earn the win.

One of Palmyra’s runs came in the second frame, when Austin David nailed a 3-pointer to spark a 9-0 Panther run to put them ahead 22-18 midway through the second frame.

Jumpers by Thoene and Schroeder tied the score at 22-22 before Palmyra regained the four-point advantage with a put-back by Kaleb Kemkpkes and a Trenton Hammond jumper.

Jaxson Bernecker’s miracle shot at the buzzer pulled Cedar to within two points — 26-24 at the halftime break.

He caught an in-bounds pass in mid-air, and fired it toward the basket. The shot went in to pull Cedar within two and give the Trojans momentum heading into the second half.

But Palmyra opened the second half with another 9-0 run. Tate Thoene scored the Trojans’ first two points of the third quarter from the free-throw line with 4:37 lef, to make it 35-26.

“We just couldn’t get some shots to fall down the stretch to complete the comeback.”

Cedar cut into the Panther lead and trailed by six (38-32) going into the fourth quarter.

A Tate Thoene trey made it a three-point game with six minutes left. But Palmyra’s pressure forced Cedar into some turnovers after that.

Tate Thoene led Cedar with 19 points in the loss.

“Our future looks bright as we only lose Brady Steffen next year,” Coach Steffen said.

“Brady will be hard to replace, as we lose our point guard and team leader.”

Palmyra 13 13 12 14 - 52

Cedar Catholic 16 8 8 12 – 44

SCORING

Cedar - Tate Thoene, 19; Myles Thoene, 13; Charlie Schroeder, 9; Jaxson Bernecker, 3. Palmyra - Austin David, 14; Kaleb Kemkpkes, 12; Trenton Hammond, 9; Dominic Darrah, 8; Andrew Waltke, 4; Jackson Junker, 4; Zach Fitzpatrick, 1.