St. Mary's Boys Win D-1 State Title

Dog pile - The St. Mary's boys celebrate with a dog pile after winning the state D1 title game against Pawnee City last Saturday in Lincoln. Photo courtesy Jim Podany.

The St. Mary's Cardinals won the 2012 Boys State Championship last week with three hard fought games. The Cardinals who have been to the state tournament four of the last five years put together a great week of basketball to acheive a 28-0 record and become the D1 state champs.

In the opening round at Lincoln East the Cards defeated the 2011 D1 state champs: The Guardian Angel Central Catholic Blue Jays 53-50. The big and physical Blue Jays tested the Cardinals with their 1-3-1 defense before St. Mary's sophomore Adam Moon scored 11 of his game high 26 points in the final quarter. Senior Tait Sibbel also contributed 14 double figure points. Moon also led the rebounding with 18 big boards while senior Tom Chvala hauled down nine caroms. Point guard Ty Eiler led the ball handling with nine assists while Sibbel and Tyler Timmerman added three assists. On defense Moon recorded four blocked shots while Sibbel totaled three steals.

Friday D1 action  moved to Pershing Auditorium. The St. Francis Flyers using their quickness and their 1-3-1 defense created a lot of problems for the Cardinals. After trailing by nine points 36-27 going into the final period the Cards out scored the Flyers 18-6 for a 45-44 victory. Senior Tait Sibbel hit a jump hook with 2.9 on the clock for the victory. Adam Moon led the Cardinal offense with 15 points while Sibbel followed with 13. “I have to give a lot of credit to senior Tyler Timmerman who scored all seven of his points in the final quarter and had several great defensive plays,” said Coach Chvala. Moon led the board totals with 12 rebounds and was followed by Timmerman and Tom Chvala with six boards each. Ty Eiler led the ball handling with nine assists. On defense Sibbel and Timmerman had five and four steals respectively while Moon and Chvala tallied seven and three blocked shots.

The Cardinals on Saturday made their first playing visit to the Bob Devany Sports Center for the state championship contest. St. Mary’s met a very good Pawnee City Team and after trailing by 12 points at half were able to overtake the Indians in the final 38 seconds and post a 56-54 victory. The cardiac Cards proved that its difficult to defeat a team that play with so much heart and desire. The Cardinals were led again by sophomore Adam Moon with 20 points including seven for eight from the free throw line in the final period. Senior Tait Sibbel scored 14 of his 15 points the second half plus a big steal late in the game. Teammate Tyler Timmerman added 11 tallies. Senior Tom Chvala led the rebounding with nine boards while Moon and Sibbel pulled down seven and six boards respectively. Timmerman and Ty Eiler led the assist column with six each but Timmerman’s five steals including two in the final minutes all led to baskets.

The St Mary’s basketball team and coaches would like to take this opportunity to thank all our parents, fans and fellow students for the great support in Lincoln. The boys were very excited about the reception they received when they returned home. The Attendance plus the fire trucks with lights a flashing we will never forget. The Cardinals once again proved what high school sports is all about. Hard word, dedication, teamwork, plus giant hearts.