LINCOLN, Neb.—Austin Kaczor had 22 points and 10 rebounds and Ewing defeated Hampton 41-33 in the Class D2 championship game at the boys state tournament Saturday.
The title is the Tigers’ second, and first since 2006, and eases the disappointment of last year’s championship game. Kaczor had given Ewing the lead with 15 seconds left in overtime last year, but Sterling scored with four seconds left to steal the win.
“This is my whole goal for the season,” Kaczor said. “I didn’t worry about individual stats. Losing last year made me sick to my stomach, and I just wanted to win this year.”
Ewing (26-1) shot 53 percent but committed 17 turnovers while scoring 26 points under its season average.
“To hold them to 41 points is pretty impressive,” Hampton coach Trevor Hoegh said. “In 10 years, we’ll look back and see how special this year was.”
Hampton couldn’t capitalize on its defensive performance. The Hawks shot just 31 percent against the Tigers’ 1-3-1 zone.
“We couldn’t find our legs,” Hoegh said. “It seemed we were always short with our shots.”
The Hawks, who trailed by 11 in the third quarter, made a run in the fourth quarter. Marcus Garrison’s 3-pointer pulled Hampton within 29-25 with 4:14 left. Ewing’s lead was back to 10 points a little more than a minute later after Kaczor converted a three-point play.
“We’ve been here before, and I didn’t get frustrated,” Kaczor said. “I knew we were going to make a run.”
Garrison had 12 points and DJ Bamesberger 11 points and seven rebounds for the Hawks (23-2).
Kaczor said last year’s heartbreaking loss in the state final fueled the Tigers all season. He said he pulled out his DVD of the game about two weeks ago and watched it several times, just to remember how much the loss hurt.
During a meeting before subdistricts, Kaczor said, the team reflected on the hurt of a year ago and vowed to make amends.
“This,” Kaczor said, the championship trophy in his hands and cut net around his neck, “is all we wanted.”
