The Sacred Heart Eagles got a combined 32 points from Ethan Arntson and Landen Denney, and a huge defensive stop in the final seconds to defeat the Mankato Loyola Crusaders 59-58 in a thrilling Class A State Tournament Consolation victory from the University of Concordia in St. Paul.
FIRST HALF –
Sacred Heart couldn’t buy a shot yesterday, but came out on fire knocking down their first three three-pointers in the game, two by Breck Bloom and one by Parker Erickson to give the Eagles an early 9-2 lead. The big lead didn’t last long, as the Crusaders would go on a 9-0 run with all the points coming from senior Lawson Godfrey to take an 11-9 lead. Parker Erickson would end the run with a layup tying the game at 11-11 with 11:40 remaining in the half. The two teams traded a few scores and the game ended up being tied at 15-15 midway through the half. The Eagles offense went cold quickly, and over the next several minutes the Crusaders took advantage rattling off an 11-2 run to pull in front 26-17 with 3:51 remaining in the first half. Sacred Heart tightened up their defense forcing a few turnovers and they would go on a 5-0 spurt on a three from Josiah Sundby, and a layup from Landen Denney to cut the deficit to 26-22 in the final minute. Offensive rebounds were an issue for the Eagles yesterday, and a little bit of a problem at times in the opening half as well, and Mankato Loyola would get a putback right before the end of the half from junior Quinn Kelly, and the Crusaders would take a 28-22 lead into the halftime break. Sacred Heart had all five starters score in the first eighteen minutes and were led by sophomore Park Erickson with 8 points. Lawson Godfrey was doing the damage for Mankato Loyola with 15 first half points.
SECOND HALF –
The Eagles came out in the second half and quickly put together a 13-2 run to take a 35-30 lead. Ethan Arntson was on fire for the Eagles and the senior scored an early 10 points to lead the charge. The Crusaders got their three-point shot going themselves and hit back-to-back threes to take the lead right back at 36-35. The teams traded a couple of buckets and after Greg Downs hit a turnaround jumper Sacred Heart led 41-39 with eleven minutes remaining in the game. Mankato Loyola would go on another run after that to claim a 46-41 edge and once again it was Lawson Godfrey doing the damage for the Crusaders along with Carter Zimmerman who hit five three-pointers in the game. Sacred Heart had a will to win and kept pushing and fighting back. Sacred Heart would claw back within one point trailing 48-47 with 6:20 remaining after six straight points from Landen Denney. In the final six minutes of the game, Sacred Heart made the winning plays. Every time Mankato Loyola responded, the Eagles would score as well, and trailing 54-49, Josiah Sundby would cash in a massive three-pointer to cut the deficit to 54-52 with 3:30 remaining. The next trip down Sundby would be fouled and he would shoot free throws. He would miss both, but get the offensive rebound never giving up on the play, and find a cutting Ethan Arntson who would lay it up and in to tie the game at 54-54 with just over two minutes remaining. The next time down the floor after getting a stop, Breck Bloom would hit a three that sent the Eagles crowd into a frenzy, giving Sacred Heart a 57-54 lead and capping off an 8-0 run. The Crusaders responded with a layup and that cut the Eagles lead to 57-56 with 1:18 remaining. Sacred Heart would come down the court and miss a shot, but Josiah Sundby would yet again snag a steal on defense and race coast to coast for a layup putting Sacred Heart in front 59-56 under a minute to go. The Crusaders ran a good offensive set the next time down the court needing a score, and Josh Kann would hit a layup while being fouled by Landen Denney giving himself a chance at a three-point play and an opportunity to tie the game at 59-59 with just 17.1 seconds remaining. He would miss the free throw but Mankato Loyola would grab the offensive rebound and call a timeout trailing just by one with 14.3 seconds left. Sacred Heart would play great defense out of the time out and the Crusaders were forced to put up a wild shot in the final seconds that would miss the mark. Landen Denney would grab the rebound and be fouled sending him to the free-throw line with just 2.2 seconds left. Denney would miss both free throws but the Crusaders full court heave would end up well short and Sacred Heart would hand on for a 59-58 thrilling State Tournament victory.
Sacred Heart improves to 28-5 and will play in the Class A Consolation Championship on Saturday morning against Nevis. The game will be an 8:00 a.m. tip and we will have the coverage on KROX Radio with a 7:30 a.m. RiverView Health pregame show.
Mankato Loyola ends their season with a final record of 22-10.
FOR EAGLES COACH DESTRY STERKEL’S COMMENTS, CLICK BELOW
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|
1st
|
2nd
|
Final
|
|
Mankato Loyola
|
28 |
30 |
58 |
|
Sacred Heart
|
22 |
37 |
59 |
|
For Sacred Heart
|
Points
|
Rebounds
|
Assists/Steals
|
Ethan Arntson |
21 |
4 |
1 assist |
Landen Denney |
11 |
6 |
|
Breck Bloom |
9 |
1 |
|
Josiah Sundby |
8 |
3 |
8 assists/2 steals |
Parker Erickson |
8 |
4 |
1 assist |
Greg Downs |
2 |
4 |
1 assist |
|
For Mankato Loyola
|
Points
|
Lawson Godfrey |
23 |
Carter Zimmerman |
19 |
Simon Morgan |
5 |
Josh Kann |
4 |
Chase Kijenski |
3 |
Quinn Kelly |
2 |
Skyler Hill-Koenen |
2 |
