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Boys Basketball: STAA beats Florence in OT, 78-74

Bobcats eliminated from WIAA tournament

St. Thomas Aquinas Academy's Jack Farley swats away a shot by Florence's Glenn Berry on Tuesday in the WIAA Division 5 regional tournament. (Burt Angeli/The Daily News)

FLORENCE, Wis. — St. Thomas Aquinas Academy, getting the most out of a six-player roster for 40 minutes, scored in the final seconds of regulation to force overtime and beat Florence 78-74 in a WIAA Division 5 regional opener Tuesday.

Jack Farley scored with nine seconds left in the second half to knot the score at 63. The junior point guard’s traditional three-point play in overtime snapped a tie at 65 and put the Cavaliers (8-15) on top for good.

“They fought hard, we fought hard,” said STAA coach Ric Powers. “They hung tough and finally got a couple breaks. A game like this could have been totally different.”

Florence (12-10) recovered from a 10-point deficit in the first half to trail by just 28-26 entering the second half. STAA got out to an eight-point lead in the second half but the Bobcats battled back to lead six times in the final six minutes.

“It was a battle on both ends of the floor,” said Florence coach Bryan Bomberg. “I’m disappointed for our seniors. St. Thomas put up a heck of a fight. It was a good basketball game.”

Bomberg praised his eight seniors for fighting back after trailing in both halves.

“That’s a credit to our seniors,” Bomberg said. “We have eight seniors that are solid basketball players but most importantly they’re just good kids.”

Seven straight Farley points lifted STAA to a 61-60 lead with 1:46 left in regulation. Florence pulled ahead 63-61 with 26 seconds to go after a Nathan Krueger bucket and two free throws, and a Glenn Berry free throw.

With nine seconds to go, Farley passed up a three-point shot and moved in for the tying basket on a pick-and-roll.

“We tried to get him the ball,” Powers said. “That’s the play we wanted.”

In overtime, a Berry lay-up with 54 seconds shaved STAA’s advantage to 72-71. But the Cavaliers answered with a Christian Hornick putback and two Tyler Stuart free throws.

“Our season has been going where we play really well for 33 of 36 minutes but we always give up runs,” Powers said. “They stuck to it and played a little better. They could have easily folded it up. I’m very proud of the way they stuck together and made free throws.”

The Cavaliers converted 17 of 23 free throws while the Bobcats made 12 of 21.

Florence edged STAA by two points in December on a last second-shot. Bomberg wasn’t entirely sure why his Bobcats bowed this time.

“I thought maybe we took too many three-pointers,” said Bomberg, his Bobcats hitting 6 of 23. “Sometimes we settled for a little too much of that. Lack of stops down the stretch (also hurt).”

Four Cavaliers scored in double figures. Farley led the way with 20 points, followed by Christian Hornick’s 17, Eric Powers’ 13 and Tyler Stuart’s 12.

“We’ve got a good six guys,” Powers said. “We have pretty good players. We really do. There’s six or seven games we could have won.”

Berry paced the Bobcats with 24 points and four of the team’s 12 steals. Krueger, tough to stop on the block, had 18 points, 11 rebounds and four steals. Nick Dishaw, who finished with 11 points, hit three triples to rally the Bobcats. Jay Walstrom added eight points and five assists.

STAA will attempt to avenge two regular season losses to Suring in the regional semifinals, meeting the second-seeded Eagles on Friday.

Florence 26 37 11 — 74

STAA 28 35 15 — 78

STAA: Stuart 12, Powers 13, Bourdelais 7, Farley 20, Hornick 17. FT: 17-23. F: 15. 3PT: Stuart 2, Powers 2, Hornick 1.

FLORENCE: Jones 2, Schuls 5, Walstrom 8, Krueger 18, Dishaw 11, Dumke 2, Berry 24, McLain 4. FT: 12-21. F: 18. Fouled out: Schuls, McLain. FG: 28-63. Rebounds: 30 (Krueger 11). 3PT: Krueger 2, Dishaw 3, Berry 1.

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