The Sacred Heart Eagles boy’s basketball team used a big second half on Saturday morning to win the Class A State Tournament Consolation Championship over the Russell-Tyler-Ruthton Knights 63-54, capping off a historic season.
FIRST HALF –
Kobe Tomkinson picked up right where he left off cashing in a three on the Eagles first possession of the game. RTR would respond with a three of their own, and the Eagles would never lead again in the first half. The teams would trade two-pointers before RTR would score four straight points to take a 9-5 lead. Zach Martin would come in off the bench and answer with a layup making it 9-7 RTR with 11:42 remaining in the first half. That would be the only bench points of the first half for Sacred Heart. As most of the State Tournament games this week, points were tough to come by and hard-earned. Over the next six minutes, the Knights would go on a 10-4 scoring run to take a 19-11 lead with 5:33 left until halftime. The Eagles defense would start to tighten up, and Ethan Arntson would make his presence in the game felt, scoring eight straight points capped off by a corner three to pull the Eagles within four points at 23-19 with 3:43 on the clock. The Eagles would start to go cold again at the end of the half, allowing the Knights to end on a 7-2 scoring run to take a 30-21 lead into the halftime break, their largest of the game. The Eagles shot just 39% from the field in the first half and committed 10 turnovers. Ethan Arntson led the way for Sacred Heart with 8 points, while the Knights were very balanced in the first half and had eight different players score in the first eighteen minutes and were led by Drew Werkman with 6 points.
SECOND HALF –
RTR would get a quick layup to begin the second half, but after that, Sacred Heart came to life and took whatever their head coach Destry Sterkel said during the halftime break to heart. The Eagles would go on a 14-4 scoring run to cut the deficit all the way down to a 36-35 with 13:50 remaining in the second half. Sam Gapp exploded during the run-scoring 8 points after going scoreless in the first half. Shortly after, Landen Denney would add a layup giving Sacred Heart their first lead since early in the first half. The teams would trade a few baskets the next couple of minutes until the Eagles would 10-2 scoring run to take their largest lead of the game at 54-47 with just 3:20 remaining. The run was highlighted by good free-throw shooting, a Landen Denney layup, and a Kobe Tomkinson three-pointer. After another free throw from Tomkinson, the Knights would score a layup to pull within six points, but that would be as close as RTR would get the rest of the game. The Eagles would knock down their free throws and shut down the Knights for a 63-54 victory, as they earned the Class A State Tournament Consolation Championship. Sacred Heart shot 19-22 at the free-throw line and outscored the Knights 41-24 in the second half.
Sacred Heart wraps up their historic season with a final record of 30-4. Their accomplishments include the Section 8A Championship, first-ever State Tournament appearance, first-ever State Tournament win, and a Class A State Tournament Consolation Championship. They will lose eight Seniors from their roster, as Sam Gapp, Cullen Rohrich, Isaac Zavoral, Caden Reimer, Nick Brundin, Zach Martin, Kobe Tomkinson, and Kaden Schauer will all graduate this spring. Congratulations to the Sacred Heart Eagles on an incredible season! RTR ends their season with a final record of 24-9.
Kobe Tomkinson was also named to the Class A all-tournament team for his outstanding performance during the State Tournament!
FOR POSTGAME COMMENTS WITH SACRED HEART SENIORS SAM GAPP & KOBE TOMKINSON CLICK HERE
| 1st | 2nd | Final | |
| Sacred Heart | 21 | 42 | 63 |
| RTR | 30 | 24 | 54 |
| Sacred Heart | Points | Rebounds | Assists/Steals |
| Kobe Tomkinson | 18 | 3 | 1 assist/2 steals |
| Landen Denney | 16 | 10 | 2 assists/1 steal |
| Ethan Arntson | 15 | 2 | 2 assists/1 steal |
| Sam Gapp | 9 | 5 | 2 assists |
| Josiah Sundby | 3 | 2 | 5 assists |
| Zach Martin | 2 | 1 steal |
| RTR | Points |
| Darrick Baartman | 14 |
| Aiden Wichmann | 12 |
| Drew Werkman | 8 |
| Dylan Anderson | 6 |
| Cody Wichmann | 4 |
| Logan Lamote | 4 |
| Tucker Haroldson | 2 |
| Camden Hansen | 2 |
| Hayden Gravely | 2 |
More pictures from the game will be posted later tonight!
