Sterling Defeats Meade For State 2A Championship

Coming off a pair of hard-fought upset victories in the first two rounds of the Class 2A state tournament, Sterling coach Derek Schneider was hoping his team had enough left in the tank for one more game.

 

After all, the underdog Black Bears – who entered tourney as the No. 6 seed – had edged Jefferson County North 64-60 in overtime Thursday night before grinding out a 50-44 semifinal win over Berean Academy on Friday. But in the championship matchup against undefeated No. 1 seed Meade, Sterling was going to need to muster energy quickly.

"I was just hoping we had legs tonight because I knew that the only way we’d beat (Meade) was if we ran the floor hard," Schneider said.

 

Sterling found its energy and then some, surging past the Buffs with a dominant second-half effort to capture the 2A boys state title with a 71-49 win Saturday night at Kansas State’s Bramlage Coliseum.

 

The Black Bears (22-4) accelerated the tempo of the game and found easy points in transition. A 10-3 run to open the second half pushed Sterling ahead 40-32 and its lead grew again at the beginning of the fourth quarter. Sterling’s 12-2 run early in the final frame sunk Meade. Five Black Bears scored during the stretch and senior Matthew DeWerff capped the surge with an easy bucket in transition to push Sterling ahead 60-42.

 

"We were fortunate in the second half to get into our transition game. That’s how we’ve been playing (most of) this year," Schneider said.

 

Meade could do little to gain any ground on the Black Bears. A 6-0 burst by the Buffs shrank Sterling’s lead to 11 points with two minutes remaining, but Meade was forced to foul and Sterling hit 11 of 12 free throw attempts in the final minutes to ice the victory. Sterling’s shooters were on fire down the stretch, hitting 13 of 27 second-half field goal tries.

 

The pace of the game wore on Meade star center Randall Friesen. The 6-foot-8 junior stayed on the floor for most of the game but wasn’t his dominant self. After a triple-double in the quarterfinals against Ell-Saline and a double-double against Madison in the semis, Friesen failed to reach double digits in any category (seven points, nine rebounds, nine blocks).

 

When the tempo wasn’t draining Friesen, Sterling post Austin Maxwell was. The 6-5 junior outworked his taller counterpart in the paint and, despite foul trouble, notched an impressive 20-point, 17-rebound double-double – both game-high tallies.

 

"In a game like this, (the double-double) really helped and I’m really proud of it," said Maxwell, who grabbed 13 defensive rebounds. "I couldn’t have done it without my teammates passing me the ball, so I give a great thanks to my teammates."

 

Sterling’s guard play was similarly impressive. Senior Seth Humphreys bounced back from a lackluster showing in the semifinals with a double-double of his own (15 points, 10 rebounds) while fellow seniors DeWerff and Chad Bennett added 10 points apiece.

 

With Maxwell out with his fourth foul late in the third quarter, Bennett and Bryant Patterson transitioned from the perimeter to the paint and pressured Friesen.

 

"I thought Chad and Bryan stepped up and the tempo wore on Friesen," Schneider said. "We made it really difficult on their guards to get a good pass to him. When they passed to him, he had to get the ball instead of catching it where he wanted to."

 

Without easy buckets from Friesen, Meade was forced to settle for outside shots. Senior guard Gunner Cordes led the Buffaloes with 17 points and sophomore Jett Little added 11. But that game plan was far less efficient as the duo hit just 12 of 33 field goal attempts (2-of-10 from beyond the arc). As a team, Meade connected on just seven of its 32 tries from the floor in the second half.

 

"We tell our guys, ‘If a team has great post play, our guard play on defense has to be through the roof,’ " Schneider said. "I thought our guards defended really well and stayed tight on their shooters."

 

The size advantage Meade boasted – between Friesen and 6-4 sophomore Morgan Davis – proved to be of little help. Davis rode the bench after three first-half fouls curtailed his opportunities. The starter played just 12 minutes and had four points (1-of-6 on field goal attempts).

 

The first half was much closer. After a seesaw first quarter, Sterling grabbed the momentum midway through the second period with an 8-1 run. Meade answered with two late buckets and the Black Bears held just a 30-29 advantage at intermission.

 

But when it needed to up the ante, Sterling found its legs. The Black Bears outscored the Buffs 41-20 in the second half, including a 23-9 mark in the fourth quarter.

 

Junior guard Jake Jaderston followed up his standout second-half showing in the semifinals with another impressive effort down the stretch. The 5-9 three-point specialist scored all 6 of his points (2-of-5 from beyond the arc) in the second half.