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WAYNE — The Cedar Catholic Trojans had a pretty successful weekend as they outlasted Wayne 46-45 in a two-overtime thriller Friday and then drilled Guardian Angels Central Catholic 63-30 Saturday.
Against the Bluejays, the Trojans held GACC to just 10 points in the opening half and coasted to the 33-point win.
“Our kids showed up and played well at Guardian Angels,” Cedar Catholic coach Matt Steffen said. “GACC played hard, but they didn’t shoot real well that night.”
While holding the Bluejays to the 10 points in the first 16 minutes, the Trojans put up 34 points of their own to take a comfortable lead into the halftime locker room.
During the first half, Cedar Catholic went on a 20-2 run to take control while limiting GACC to just under 27 percent shooting from the field.
Three Trojans ended up in double figures on the night paced by Nolan Becker with 13 points.
Tyan Baller was right on Becker’s heels with 12 while Jaxson Bernecker had 10 with a 4-for-4 shooting performance from the court, including 2-for-2 from beyond the three-point line. Carsen Arens tossed in nine and Isaac Kuehn added five.
Becker, Bernecker and Kuehn each grabbed four rebounds as the Trojans out-rebounded the Bluejays 27-19.
Bernecker also handed out three assists while Arens had a couple of steals defensively.
The night before the win in West Point, Cedar Catholic survived an overtime thriller in Wayne; in fact, it took two extra sessions to determine the winner.
It was the second time the two teams butted heads this season, with Cedar Catholic winning the first meeting by 17 points in the Shootout at Wayne State College.
The Blue Devils were hot out of the gate and had a 13-point advantage at the end of the first frame after leading by as many as 23 in the half.
The Trojans made up the deficit in the second quarter and the teams went to the intermission deadlocked at 26.
“We did a really good job of keeping our composure,” Steffen said. “And we turned up our defensive intensity and got back in the game.”
Cedar Catholic would use a 16-0 run to narrow the gap and eventually tie the game.
The second half was a back-andforth battle that ended with the teams even at 37-37 after Wayne held the Trojans to only two points in the fourth quarter.
“Wayne plays great defense so points were hard to come by,” Steffen said. “We finished the game well and Andrew Jones made some clutch free throws down the stretch.”
The teams managed five points each in the first overtime, but the Trojans got over the edge in the second extra session to secure the win.
Bernecker finished with a doubledouble, pouring in 16 points and pulling down 10 missed shots. He also handed out a couple of assists.
Jones and Becker contributed nine points each with Jones going 4-for-4 from the foul line late in the game.
Baller tacked on eight and Jones swiped four steals.
The Trojans finally got to play the finals of the Knight Classic Monday, which was originally scheduled before the Christmas break in Fremont.
Cedar Catholic played South Sioux City, which brought an 8-6 record into the contest.
The Cardinals outlasted the Trojans 57-54 to improve to 9-6 while handing Cedar Catholic only its third loss of the season.
South Sioux City withstood a frantic comeback from Cedar Catholic as the Trojans outscored the Cardinals 17-4 in the final eight minutes, including a 24-3 run, but the effort fell just a little short.
Baller had 16 points in the game, while Bernecker added 15, and Jones knocked down nine.
Jones missed a double-double by one point, adding 10 rebounds to his night, while Bernecker missed his double-double by one rebound, grabbing nine.
The Trojans were set to take on Ponca, Jan. 24, at the Msgr. Werner Activity Center, before entering the Mid-State Conference Tournament.
Cedar Catholic is the No. 1 seed in the tournament and will host the winner of the Jan. 31 contest between Guardian Angels Central Catholic and Crofton.
The winner’s bracket of the tournament will continue Feb. 3 at Pierce with the consolation brackets set at Guardian Angels in West Point.
Wayne 20 6 5 6 5 3— 45 Cedar 7 19 9 2 5 4 —46 Cedar Wayne FG 12-33 6-23 3Pt 5-12 8-17 FT 7-11 6-8 Reb 31 26 TOs 15 16 SCORING
Cedar - Jaxson Bernecker, 16; Andrew Jones, 9; Nolan Becker, 9; Tyan Baller, 8; Grant Arens, 4.
REBOUNDS
Cedar - Jaxson Bernecker, 10; Nolan Becker, 4; Andrew Jones, 3; Grant Arens, 3; Carson Arens, 3; Tyan Baller, 2.
ASSISTS
Cedar - Jaxson Bernecker, 2; Carson Arens, 1.
STEALS
Cedar - Andrew Jones, 4; Grant Arens, 2; Carson Arens, 1; Nolan Becker, 1; Jay Steffen, 1. GACC 6 4 6 14 — 30 Cedar 17 17 24 5 —63 Cedar GACC FG 19-31 11-21 3Pt 6-14 1-12 FT 7-12 5-5 Reb 29 17 TOs 7 11
SCORING
Cedar - Nolan Becker, 13; Tyan Baller, 12; Jaxson Bernecker, 10; Carson Arens, 9; Grant Arens, 9; Isaac Kuehn, 5; Jacob Steffen, 4; Andrew Jones, 1.
REBOUNDS
Cedar - Isaac Kuehn, 4; Jaxson Bernecker, 4; Nolan Becker, 4; Grant Arens, 3; Tyan Baller, 2; Carson Arens, 2; Andrew Jones, 1; Jaymison Cattau, 1; Jay Steffen, 1; Breaden Reifenrath, 1.
ASSISTS
Cedar - Jaxson Bernecker, 3; Grant Arens, 1.
STEALS
Cedar - Carson Arens, 2; Andrew Jones, 1; Tyan Baller, 1; Grant Arens, 1; Nolan Becker, 1; Jaxson Bernecker, 1; Isaac Kuehn, 1. South Sioux 20 17 16 4 — 57 Cedar 15 7 15 17 —54 Cedar South Sioux FG 14-44 15-35 3Pt 6-21 7-17 FT 8-14 6-18
SCORING
Cedar - Tyan Baller, 16; Jaxson Bernecker, 15; Andrew Jones, 9; Nolan Becker, 6; Carsen Arens, 4; Isaac Kuehn, 2; Grant Arens, 2.
