The St. Thomas More bench celebrates in the final moments of their triple-overtime win against Aberdeen Roncalli in the Class A semifinals. The Cavs will battle Viborg/Hurley tonight for the state championship at 8 p.m. at the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center. (Photo Kevin Cox/IDS)

For three quarters of Friday night’s Class “A” semifinal game between St. Thomas More and Aberdeen Roncalli neither team dominated. Neither team played like it wanted to win. After the first quarter, St. Thomas More led 11-8. By halftime the score was an anemic 15-15. Neither team could find a rhythm. But for the fourth quarter and three heart-pounding overtime periods neither team played like it was willing to lose.

In the end, STM outlasted Roncalli 55-50, and advanced to its second-straight state championship game, but was a slugfest to the bitter end.

If STM’s opening round game against the Chester Area Flyers was a game of finesse and touch, dominated by the versatility of Liam Duffy, Friday night’s game was a game of muscle and blood dominated in the paint by STM’s power forward Brandon Bassett.

STM’s Garet Tucker, and Eric Hensch along with Roncalli’s Andrew Holmstrom were all knocked out of the game after bloody collisions. They were back on the court within seconds. An exhausted STM head coach, Dave Hollenbeck, shook his head and told reporters after the game; “It was a bloody battle, lots of physical play. We’ve got a lot of jerseys with blood on them that we’ve got to get cleaned up for tomorrow.”

St. Thomas More won the opening tip off. Liam Duffy pulled up at the arc, and drained a three. Guarded tenaciously by Roncalli’s senior guard Andrew Holmstrom, Duffy went stone cold for the rest of the half. “They tagged his outside shoulder and trailed him on all his screens.” Hollenbeck explained. “But he (Liam) was good for us tonight because he took up good defenders. It left us available on the block and that’s where Brandon (Bassett) took over.”

“It was our game plan to try and beat them inside.” Bassett told IDS after the game. “We knew they were a guard oriented team, so we wanted to get it inside.” Roncalli had no answer for Bassett, who muscled his way to a game high 21 points.

“Brandon was tough tonight.” Said Hollenbeck. “He’s a tough kid and he’s resilient. He plays with passion. He’s strong on the block. He wanted the ball tonight. He was very adamant about posting up, and when he says ‘Get me the ball.’ We all agree.”

(Photos Kevin Cox/IDS)

STM played slow down all night, and opened the fourth quarter with a six point advantage, 28-22. Considering the pace of the game, it appeared that six points might hold up for eight minutes, especially after Duffy scored his first two points since the opening shot of the game. But Roncalli battled back. Christian Cox drove the lane for two and drained a three to tie the game with 58 seconds left, and STM could not manufacture a winning basket in the final minute.

The game was tied 34-34 at the end of regulation.

STM guard Skye Warwick opened the first overtime with a three. The the Cavs stalled, and Roncalli pressed, fouling Liam Duffy. He sank both free throws to put STM up 39-35 with only 40 seconds left. But Roncalli refused to fold. Low post Ross Barton stepped away from the basket and swished a three. “We were sagging off him all night, and he decided to step up and he nailed it. That’s just how good they are.” Said Hollenbeck.

When Cox turned an offensive rebound into an easy two under the basket, STM’s lead had evaporated back to zero at the buzzer.

Both teams showed signs of fatigue in the second overtime. Bassett scored all four of STM’s points, and the exhausted heavy weights staggered into the third overtime tied 44-44.

Bassett scored first in the third overtime. Tucker and Bassett each hit free throws. When Duffy found Eric Hensch for a breakaway layup the lead was stretched to six with only 1:45 left. Roncalli was forced to trade fouls for free throws and could never catch up.

The final score was STM 55-Aberdeen Roncalli 50.

For all the thrill of victory, STM left the court exhausted, and Dave Hollenbeck warned his players after the game that their ability to quickly put the excitement of Friday night behind them, rest, and re-hydrate, would be the key to the championship game against Viborg-Hurley on Saturday night. “The key for us is rest.” Hollenbeck told reporters. “We’re gassed right now. I’m not gonna lie to you. We’re tired. So I think the important thing is what we do from this minute to game time.”

Viborg-Hurley downed Dell Rapids 51-48 in Friday’s late night semi-final. The Cougars face off against the Cavaliers in the championship game at 8:00 pm Saturday at the Civic Center.