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| Mustangs Eliminate NCC 38-35 Will Play For All "A" State Championship vs Hazard |
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| Brossart and arch-rival NCC did battle in the semi-finals of the Touchstone Energy All "A" State Tournament on Saturday afternoon in Richmond. When Brossart ran out to an 8-2 first quarter lead and extended it to 14-7 midway through the second quarter it appeared this semi-finals match might be a walk in the park for the Mustangs. A late first-half 6-0 run brought the Breds to within a point at 14-13 and the Breds had momentum going into the locker-room as a result of a Michel Zimmerman 3-ball just ahead of the buzzer ending the first half. NCC would never lead in the contest but did manage to tie the game at 19 before the Mustangs re-established a 24-19 lead at the end of three periods. The Mustangs pushed out to a 32-26 with 2:51 to play in the contest, but 18-2 teams don't roll over and play dead and neither did NCC. They would cut the Mustangs lead to 33-30 1:06 out, and 37-35 with just 27 ticks left on the clock. A Jason Cooper free throw would give the Mustangs a 38-35 lead at the :20 mark which would hold up as the final score after a Michael Zimmerman 3-point attempt and a despartion 3-ball were off there mark at the final buzzer. NCC drops to 18-3 with the loss and the Mustangs improve to the same 18-3 record and extend their present win streak to 10 games. Derrick Rhoden and Kevin Smith led the Stangs in the points department with 8 points apiece. Evan McDole scored 7 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for the Mustangs. Ryan Anderson hit a HUGE three at the end of the third quarter and finished his days work with 5 points, Jason Cooper and Rob Doyle each contributed 3 and Brett Reilly and Steve McCarthy rounded out the Mustangs scoring with 2 apiece. The Breds could manage only three scorers for the contest. Michael Zimmerman led all scorers with 17 points, Mark Krebs had 14 and Gary Gerding put up 4 for NCC. The Breds struggled from the free-throw line hitting on only 3 of 11. Brossart converted on 11 of 17. Mustangs' Evan McDole accomplished the MVP hat trick by being named the Player of the Game for the third time in as many days and ballgames. Brossart will take on Hazard in the championship game of the tournament Sunday afternoon at 3pm. Hazard, the champions of Region 12 comes into the game with a 19-4 record. They have won 6 in succession, seven of their last 8, and 11 of the past 13 games. |