03-10-15
BY JACK BULLOCK
CARBONDALE –Don't let it be said that Breese Mater Dei failed to earn a trip to Peoria to the state finals.

Coach Ron Schdagg saw his Knights divide and conquer a gauntlet of top notch 2A talent in reaching the state finals for the first time since 1996 with a commanding 64-38 win over Carterville on Tuesday night at the Carbondale 2A Supersectional.

The Knights improved to 24-10 on the season, one that was filled with the toughest of tough competition.

This schedule of landmines helped strengthen the squads purpose and made them better when the games mattered most.

Since the state tournament began three weeks ago, the Knights have won five games against five 20-plus game winners, including the Tuesday night romp which was really over by halftime.

Carterville, the winner of the Benton 2A Sectional last week with wins over Fairfield and Teutopolis, was no match physically for the much bigger Knights.

After the first few minutes, it was apparent that the Lions were going to be in trouble and the night got worse for Coach Scott Burzynski's team as they were blown out in the second half.

On a night were nearly everything went their way,. Breese Mater Dei dominated both ends of the floor as they ended Carterville's state tournament run, and season, at 25-5.

Facing a team that was much bigger and stronger at every spot on the floor, Carterville struggled to get anything accomplished.

“Obivously when you get down to a quality team like that, you try to scramble defensively and try to make shots, try to get back into it real quick and it was hard to do,” said Coach Burzynski. “But give them credit, they (Mater Dei) played a tremendous game. “They are big and they are hard to get around (on offensive rebounds).”

Mater Dei broke the game's last tie score in the final three minutes of the first quarter and never looked back as they will now face Chicago Uplift Community, a 67-61 winner over Hales Franciscan at the Joliet Central Supersectional.

Mater Dei was led by Ben Lampe, a 6-foot-5 senior, who poured in 22-points to pace the Knights who had one other player in double-figures, 6-foot-8 senior center Nolan Gerling with 11-points and 14-rebounds.

Three other BMD players; Sam Toennies, Zach Haake and Zack Deiters all score nine points each in the trouncing.

For Carterville the splendid career's of twin brothers' Matt and Will Galik came to an end with the loss.

Will led the Lions with 20-points while Matt added six-points before fouling out.

No other Carterville player scored more than four points as Coach Burzynski's team hit just 12-of-50 shots on the night, usually with a hand in their face, for 24 percent.

“Defensively I think we are pretty decent. I hope that we can continue it against our next opponent,” said Coach Schadegg. “Ben (Lampe) is a super student athlete and a super kid.”

Will Galik, the taller of the two at 6-foot-4, scored eight points in the opening quarter and his second of two 3-point shots in the frame evened the score at 12 with 2:45 remaining.

However Mater Dei quickly took control of the contest by closing the quarter scoring the last eight points.

Lampe scored five of the points on 3-of-4 free throws and a cut to the basket on an assist for Gerling.

Six-foot-seven senior Zach Haake then nailed a 3-pointer from right corner in transition for a 20-12 lead.

Carterville managed to stay close, thanks to a 3-pointer by junior Austin Swalls and a fast break drive for a left-handed dunk by Will Galik to whittle the Mater Dei lead down to 25-17.

The play of the Knight's backcourt is underrated and Coach Schadegg saw Toennies play well on Tuesday.

Toennies helped jump start a 13-0 run to close the half.

He scored on a back door cut to the basket on an assist from Deiters and then finished a fast break with a lay in.

Toennies also drove to the basket and dished the ball to Gerling for a lay in.

Haake and Deiters both hit long range shots before intermission.

When Deiters closed the second quarter with a long shot from the left corner that beat the buzzer, the Knights were reigning at 38-19.

Not only did Carterville not shoot well in the second quarter, missing nine shots, the Lions didn't grab a single offensive rebound as they headed to the locker room down 19.

Mater Dei finished the story of the contest in the first 3:30 of the second half.

Lampe scored seven straight points, posting up for two baskets and then taking a pass from Haake for a fast break score that turned into a three-point play.

Haake extended and blocked a 3-point attempt by Carterville guard Blake Watson.

When Haake grabbed the rebound he found Lampe for a lay in while he was fouled by Swalls.

The conversion pushed the Mater Dei lead to 45-19 and completed the game determining 20-0 sprint.

It turned out to be over a nine minute stretch without a point for the Lions.

By this time the Knights had Carterville in foul difficulty and they made the Lions pay by hitting six straight free throws to extend the pounding.

When Deiters added another trey from the right wing, the Knights were up 54-27.

Matt Galik picked up his fifth foul at the 6:09 mark, ending his prep basketball career and just moments later Will Galik converted on a drive to the basket while being fouled.

His made free throw with 5:26 turned out to be his final prep career point.

An 8-0 Mater Dei run which ended at 2:56 closed the book on the contest as the reserves finished the final minutes.

“I would hope that is the sign of a good basketball team, that we are playing our best right now,” said Coach Schadegg. “We are playing really good defense. We are making teams beat us, making teams guard us. Tonight the kids did a super job, I'm proud of them.”

Mater Dei was a sharp 22-of-42 overall (52.3 percent) and held a 36-26 rebounding advantage.

The Knights committed just 10-turnovers and Haake was credited with eight assists to go with his nine points.

BMD was also good from the foul line (15-of-18) and nailed 5-of-7 from beyond the 3-point arc.

The Lions were at the other end of the spectrum in many categories on Tuesday, including a 5-of-24 (20.8 percent) from the outer circle.

“They guarded us tonight and they were physical. We didn't shoot the ball well at all,” said Coach Burzynski. “But we are not going to let this night take away from what we accomplished this season. They (the seniors) showed up and competed every day. They battled for each other and continued to make their teammates better. I'm extremely proud of them.”