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Boys 2A State Tournament Semifinals

Sterling – 73
St. Marys – 52

The St. Marys boys basketball team battled undefeated and the defending State Champs in Sterling on Friday night in Emporia, and the Black Bears 31-7 second quarter advantage proved to be the difference.

The Bears came out with a solid first quarter and led Sterling 17-14 after the first eight minutes, but the huge advantage for the Black Bears in the second quarter gave them a 45-24 halftime lead and that was more than enough to secure the win.

Sterling improved to 27-0 with the win and got a big-time game from Boston Ekart. Ekart finished with a game-high 33 points to go along with seven rebounds, three assists, and three steals. Jacob Lewis poured in 19 points, seven rebounds, and four assists while Blake Smith finished with seven points.

The Bears of St. Marys got 17 points from Ben DeVader as he went 5-for-11 from three and added three rebounds. Killian McCann finished with eight points while they got six points each from Zach Sommars and Louis Archer.

Sterling dominated points in the paint with that advantage over St. Marys at 48-16 and they also had an 18-2 advantage in points off turnovers. St. Marys turned it over 18 times while Sterling only had four turnovers in the game.

St. Marys record fell to 20-8 with the loss and will play for third place on Saturday against Berean Academy/St. Marys-Colgan beginning at 11:00 AM with the coverage on 96.9 The Pulse.

Stats

Sterling: 29-54 FG, 4-13 3pt, 11-17 FT, 26 REB, 16 AST, 4 TO
St. Marys: 19-45 FG, 9-24 3pt, 5-8 FT, 27 REB, 12 AST, 18 TO