Slow start, frigid shooting doom Irish in semifinals

Click here for photo galleries of Sacred Heart’s 1st and 2nd round games at the Class D-2 state tournament

Falls City Sacred Heart’s quest to add a state basketball championship next to their state football championship from last fall ended Friday night, as Bancroft-Rosalie jumped on the Irish early and cruised to a 55-44 in a Class D-2 semifinal at the Devaney Center. 

The second-seeded Irish trailed 14-4 at the end of the first and 27-7 at halftime as the No. 3 Panthers connected on four first-half three-pointers. 

Nick Sjuts led a trio of Panthers in double-figures with 15 points. 

The Irish, now 24-5, will play in their second-straight third-place consolation game against Spalding/Spalding Academy, who lost to High Plains in the other semifinal.

FCSH and Spalding/SA tip-off at 2 p.m. at Lincoln Southeast.

Scoring

FCSH – Niemeyer 8, Dunn 8, Malone 8, Kean 3, Goltz 15, Fiegener 2.

B-R – Sjuts 15, Appleton 12, Zitek 6, Tietz 8, Peters 14.