In front of a packed Tornado Fieldhouse the Kuemper-Catholic boys basketball team knocked off Storm Lake 85-79 in a game where both teams entered the contest ranked #1 in their respective class.
Ryan Clair poured in a game high 29 points leading the Knights, the top ranked team in class 2A, to their 16th win of the season. Dylan Schon had 17 points, Griffin Glynn 16, and Jack Badding added 15. Kuemper shot 53-percent for the game including 16-of-26 in the 2nd half.
The Tornadoes, who became the new #1 team in class 3A, trailed 40-38 at the half but came out in the 3rd quarter on an 8-2 run to grab a 46-42 lead. The Knights held a 60-53 lead heading into the 4th quarter and led 79-68 with 2:32 to go. Cam Boyd, who made 4-of-7 from the arc, buried his 4th 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 82-79 with :43 seconds left but the Tornadoes would get no closer.
Jaidyn Coon scored a team high 27 points, Boyd had 16, Tim Yanga 15, and Trey Boettcher scored nine. The Tornadoes shot 45-percent from the field and were 8-of-24 on their 3’s. The Knights made 7-of-15 from downtown. Kuemper was 18-of-23 from the free throw line while the Tornadoes made 13-of-22.
Storm Lake falls to 13-2 on the year. The Tornado teams will play Tuesday at Denison-Schleswig, Thursday at Fort Dodge, and Friday at Spencer.
Click below to hear from Tornado head coach Evan Franzmeier.
