LINCOLN, Neb.—Ravenna overcame another cold night of 3-point shooting to successfully defend its Class C2 boys basketball championship with a 57-51 victory over Archbishop Bergan in Saturday night’s state final.
Connor Beranek had 19 points, John Klosterman 16 and Trevor Cyboron 10 to lead the Blue Jays (25-3), who have won three titles in six years.
Ravenna, which made just 9 of 34 3-pointers in their semifinal win over Johnson County, missed 12 of their first 13 against Bergan before hitting 3 of their next 4—the biggest by Klosterman to put the Blue Jays up 51-45 with four minutes left.
“That’s one of the things that separates us from average sometimes,” Ravenna coach Paul Beranek said. “In that case, it’s just senior urgency. That kid had a broken wrist earlier in the year and he came back with a brace and he shot 3s with his opposite hand and won games with free throws with his opposite hand. That’s what kind of player he is.”
Tanner Werth had 16 points and Nicholas Jensen 14 for the Knights (22-4), who made just 5 of 12 free throws.
“They made plays at the end and we didn’t,” Bergan coach Chris Paulson said. “We didn’t shoot free throws well enough to win the game. We’re disappointed we didn’t get the big one, but we know that we lost to a quality basketball team.”
Werth’s 3 with 22 seconds left got the Knights within 53-51.
Klosterman got fouled by Kurtis Kammerer on the other end and made both free throws for a four-point lead with 17 seconds to play. After Bergan turned the ball over, Kammerer fouled Theison Anderson, whose free throws finished off the Knights.
“We haven’t shot 3s very well but I liked the way our guys drove,” coach Beranek said. “The thing they’ve been talking about is finding a way to win, and that’s what they do.”
