(Sioux City) Bishop Heelan outscored Atlantic 23-7 in the fourth quarter to seal a 72-47 win in a Class 3A Substate Quarterfinal at Bishop Heelan.
Matt Noll led the Crusaders with 22-points, Nick Miller added 19, Carter Kuehl, 15, and Sam Skinner finished the night with 10 points. Sean Schaefer, Evan Schulz, and Beau Chamberlain chipped in two points.
Carter Pellett led Atlantic with 16-points, Colton Rasmussen, 10, Caden Andersen, 8, Jackson McLaren, 8, Dayton Templeton and Jayden Proehl, 2, and Lane Nelson finished the night with one point.
Sam Skinner buried a three, bagged another field goal inside the arc, Nick Miller scored four, and the Crusaders raced out to a 9-2 lead. The Trojans trailing 13-4 rallied late in the first quarter on an 8-3 run and trailed 16-12 at the end of the first quarter. Carter Pellett knocked down a pair of three-point shots and went two-for-two at the free-throw line to help the visitors get back into the contest.
With balanced scoring in the second quarter, the Trojans kept pace with the home team and trailed 31-26 at the break. Rasmussen and Jackson McLaren scored four points, Andersen, Templeton, and Pellett scored two. The Trojan crept within one point 27-26 before Heelan closed out the quarter on a 4-0 run, including Carter Kuehl’s two free throws with less than one second left in the frame.
Heelan led 49-40 after three-quarters, and stepped it up a notch in the final eight minutes racing out to a 16-2 run and outscored Atlantic 23-7 in the final frame to seal the 72-47 win. Noll with 10-points and Nick Miller’s nine fueled the offense for the Crusaders, now 13-9 on the season.
Bishop Heelan with square off against Carroll on Thursday night. Harlan and Denison-Schleswig will match up in the other semifinal on Thursday on the top side of the bracket.
