Xavier to state after torrid second half

CEDAR RAPIDS - If the Xavier Saints play at the state tournament next week like they did in the second half Monday night, they'll be a tough out.

They won't be out at all. They'll be raising a trophy.

It's nearly impossible to beat a team that scores 56 points in a half, and that's exactly what Xavier did in overcoming Mount Vernon, 80-64, in a fun Class 3A substate final at the U.S. Cellular Center.

'Heck of a team,” said Mount Vernon Coach Wes Bruns. 'Boy, we took a couple of quick shots there, missed shots, and they capitalized. They're a really tough team.”

One that is on a serious roll, too. Xavier (16-8) takes an eight-game win streak to Des Moines, where it is a sixth seed and plays third-seeded Pella (21-2) in what should be a whale of a quarterfinal next Tuesday at 8:15 p.m. at Wells Fargo Arena.

Pella has won 19 straight. This is Xavier's first appearance at the state tournament since 2006.

'I've wanted to play at The Well since I was a little kid,” said Xavier's Adam McDermott, who watched his cousin, Doug McDermott, win two state championships with Ames. 'It should be fun.”

Mount Vernon (15-9) controlled tempo and played a tremendous first half, leading, 30-24, and making the possibility of an upset real. But Xavier turned up the pressure defensively, hit some 3-point shots, which led to hitting a bunch of other shots.

It was a 51-40 game after three quarters, and that was all she wrote. The Saints were an astounding 16 of 22 from the field in the final half and made 20 of 24 free throws.

That led to a whole mess of points.

'The first half, I thought we came out a little nervous, a little tight,” said McDermott, who tied for team scoring honors with 22 points. 'The second half, we came out and played our game. We moved the ball more, had more effort on the defensive end. We got some stops and knocked down our free throws.”

'We didn't come out strong at all,” said Calvin Winker, Xavier's other 22-point scorer. 'At halftime, we said ‘This is our game. We're going to win this game.' We just had the passion. We decided to get out on the court in the second half and play our game, our style of basketball. That's what we did.”

Hard to imagine another team in the state, especially 3A, that gets out in transition the way these Saints do.

'We just really needed to pick up the intensity on the defensive end,” said Xavier Coach Ryan Luehrsmann. 'That's where we challenged them, if they could come out and see if they could layer stops. We finally did that. We finally were able to break their offensive momentum. The other thing we wanted to do was push it in transition.”

Luehrsmann said he didn't think his club played horribly in the first half.

'I felt it was more like Mount Vernon playing exceptionally well than anything,” he said.

Winker was a beast on the interior, impossible to stop when he caught the ball on the low block. Mount Vernon had no answer defensively for him.

'It comes down to matchups,” Luehrsmann said. 'Tonight we felt like we could exploit him inside. The guys did a good job of finding him.”

Tommy Hook led Mount Vernon - which had a six-game win streak snapped - with 17 points, while Andy DeCamp added 16 and Austin Ash 15. Hook, Ash and leading Connor Herrmann are part of a strong nucleus that will return next season for a school that was the smallest in 3A this season and probably will drop to 2A in 2015-16.

'I love coaching these kids,” Bruns said. 'They really finished strong. It's pretty tough in that locker room right now. A lot of emotion in there. They worked hard, they believed. I can't ask any more from them.”

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AT U.S. CELLULAR CENTER

C.R. XAVIER (80): Calvin Winker 8-13 6-6 2, Adam McDermott 5-8 10-11 22, Connor Ramlo 1-2 6-8 8, Mitch Burger 4-8 2-2 11, Michael Mims 6-9 1-3 15, Joe Welch 0-1 0-0 0, Ryan Stulken 0-0 0-0 0, Matt Downey 0-0 0-0 0, Blake Klostermann 0-1 0-0 0, Tim Otting 1-1 0-0 2, A.J. Brems 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-43 25-30 80.

MOUNT VERNON (64): Andy DeCamp 6-11 0-0 16, Nolan Teubel 2-10 0-0 4, Connor Herrmann 3-9 4-4 10, Tommy Hook 7-9 2-4 17, Austin Ash 6-12 0-0 15, Adam Ketelsen 0-2 0-0 0, Nick Bevans 0-0 0-0 0, Tristan Rud 1-1 0-0 2, Riley Hauser 0-0 0-0 0, Tyler Kranig 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-54 6-8 64.

Halftime - Mount Vernon 30, Xavier 24. 3-point goals - Xavier 5-13 (Winker 0-1, McDermott 2-4, Ramlo 1-3, Mims 2-4, Klostermann 0-1), Mount Vernon 8-20 (DeCamp 4-8, Teubel 0-3, Hook 1-2, Ash 3-6, Ketelsen 0-1). Rebounds - Xvaier 23 (Burger 7, Mount Vernon 30 (Teubel 9). Total fouls - Xavier 8, Mount Vernon 23. Fouled out - Teubel, Herrmann. Turnovers - Xavier 5, Mount Vernon 9.

l Comments: (319) 398-8259; jeff.johnson@thegazette.com