Everything but the win for Xavier

EPWORTH - About everything that had to happen for Cedar Rapids Xavier to win its Class 3A substate final Monday night against Dubuque Wahlert happened. Except for that pesky score thing.

The Saints played against a noticeably injured Division I college prospect Cordell Pemsl and held him and second-leading scorer Josh Carter to 10 total points. That's 22 under their combined average.

They survived a nearly perfect first half from their opponent, regaining their collective legs and rallying to take a one-point lead in the fourth quarter. But ...

"It's hard to win in Dubuque," summarized Xavier Coach Ryan Luehrsmann, after a 70-62 loss to the top-ranked Golden Eagles that came before a packed house of 2,000 or so fans at Western Dubuque. "Everyone knows that."

This wasn't technically Dubuque, but you get his point. Guard Jared Walker hit an important 3-pointer that extended his team's lead and some clutch free throws in the final two minutes to move Wahlert (20-4) on to the state tournament next week.

He had 21 points, part of a quartet of unsung guys that undid Xavier (15-9).

"That's what we focused on, stop their two star athletes in Carter and Pemsl. And that's what we did," said Xavier's Calvin Winker. "Their bench guys and other role players stepped up. Nothing you can do about that. They just hit their shots. That's about it."

The 6-foot-7 Pemsl, just a sophomore, already owns an offer from Creighton and is being looked at closely by some Big Ten Conference schools. But he injured his right shoulder in Wahlert's district final win over Western Dubuque and didn't start Monday, wearing a cumbersome-looking shoulder brace that limited him severely, especially offensively.

"Right now, I'd say I'm about 50 to 60 percent," said Pemsl, who had just three points. "But we really seem to have had somebody out for about every game this season ... We've learned to fight through adversity. There have been high points and there have been low points to the season. I think with this game, too. But we ended up on the high point."

Guard Carter didn't even score until the second half, yet Wahlert took a 38-27 halftime lead behind 71-percent shooting. It was Walker, Nolan Timp, Tyler Potts and 6-2 Cam Adams (Pemsl's replacement) doing every bit of the damage.

Not at all what Xavier expected.

"I was just happy we were able to weather the storm because they probably played about as perfectly as they could have in the first half," Luehrsmann said.

Xavier scored the first five points of the second half and crept within 43-42 on a Andrew Bisenius trey. Adam McDermott's layup after a turnover put the Saints ahead for the first time since the first quarter a minute and a half into the fourth quarter, 52-51.

"We said at halftime that we knew they were going to make their runs," Walker said. "They made their run and managed to get the lead. But Coach told us to keep our heads in it."

Winker and McDermott ended their junior seasons with outstanding and comparable 21-point games. McDermott also finished with 10 rebounds.

"We always thought this was our game, no matter what was going on throughout it," Winker said. "We knew we had a chance, our confidence was always up. We got some fouls called on us, and that stuff happens. They just made their shots down the stretch, I guess."

"There's definitely a good chance we could be back in a similar position next year," Luehrsmann said. "It all boils down to how we approach the offseason. We did a good job last summer, but we've got to be even better with our work ethic and how we approach things."

AT EPWORTH

C.R. XAVIER (62): Adam McDermott 6-15 6-9 21, Calvin Winker 7-15 3-4 21, Matt Nelson 4-7 1-2 9, Andrew Bisenius 2-5 0-0 5, Mitchell Burger 0-1 4-6 4, Connor Ramlo 1-1 0-0 2, Frank Hill 0-1 0-0 0, Joe Welch 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 20-46 13-21 62.

DUBUQUE WAHLERT (70): Nolan Timp 6-7 6-7 18, Tyler Potts 4-9 1-2 12, Cam Adams 4-7 1-1 9, Jared Walker 7-10 4-9 21, Josh Carter 2-8 2-4 7, Cordell Pemsl 1-4 1-4 3, Erik Lattner 0-0 0-0 0, Matt Hoffmann 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-45 16-27 70.

Halftime - Wahlert 38, Xavier 27. 3-point goals - Xavier 8-19 (McDermott 3-7, Winker 4-8, Bisenius 1-3, Hill 0-1), Wahlert 6-14 (Timp 0-1, Potts 3-8, Walker 3-3, Carter 0-2). Rebounds - Xavier 29 (McDermott 10), Wahlert 23 (Carter 5). Total fouls - Xavier 19, Wahlert 14. Fouled out - Nelson, Bisenius. Turnovers - Wahlert 12, Wahlert 6.