In front of a packed gym in Ida Grove Saturday night the Carroll Kuemper boys basketball team beat Sioux Central 69-67 in a 2A sub-state final.
Kuemper never trailed in the first half and took a 33-31 lead into halftime, their biggest lead was ten points early in the 2nd quarter. The Rebels took their first lead of the game early in the 3rd quarter at 37-35 but it was the Knights that carried a 50-49 advantage into the last quarter.
The two teams exchanged some early baskets in the final quarter and with 6:05 to go the Rebels Carter Boettcher picked up his 5th foul. Kuemper freshman Brock Badding made a 3-pointer to give the Knights the lead for good at 59-56 with 4:20 to go. Badding scored all ten of his points in the 2nd half, sophomore Carson Kanne ledKuemper with 20 points and Dawson Gifford tallied 15.
Sioux Central was led by Jacob Hargens’ game high 31 points he also grabbed 11 rebounds, Boettcher finished with 17, and Ethan Mills had nine. The Rebels conclude the year 23-1.
Carroll-Kuemper, now 18-6, is the #7 seed and will play 2nd seeded Roland Story in the first round of the 2A state tournament Tuesday, March 7th at 10:30am.
