Boys basketball: Paxton Giertz’s 3 in final seconds boosts Seneca in comeback win over El Paso-Gridley

SENECA — The Seneca boys basketball team got off to an awful start in Wednesday’s Class 2A regional semifinal against El Paso-Gridley.

But the finish for the host and No. 2-seeded Fighting Irish was the exact opposite.

After falling behind by double digits in the opening three minutes and trailing in the second quarter by 21, Seneca fought all the way back and took its only lead of the contest when sophomore Paxton Giertz drilled what proved to be a game-winning 3-pointer from the left wing with 14 seconds remaining to give his club a thrilling 56-55 victory over the No. 7-seeded Titans.

Seneca (28-4) advances to Friday’s 7 p.m. championship game against Bishop McNamara, a 57-55 winner over Reed-Custer in the night’s second semifinal. EPG finished the season at 18-14.

Giertz, who sank a triple with 33 seconds left to make it a two-point game, finished with 16 points, five rebounds, four assists and two blocked shots.

“Calvin [Maierhofer] got the steal, I got the ball right near the basket and was going to go up with it, but it slipped out of my hands,” Giertz said of the Irish’s final possession. “From there I just dribbled it out and wanted to get us set up. Then Kysen [Klinker] came out at the top of the key and gave me a nice pick, and I was able to find a little free space to put the shot up.”

Senior Braden Ellis led Seneca with 17 points — including sinking five 3-pointers — and three steals, while Maierhofer pitched in 14 points, four rebounds and three steals.

The Titans, behind Chancesaye Maxon’s trio of 3s and 14 first-quarter points, scored the first 11 points of the contest and led 19-8 after the opening eight minutes. Maxon finished with a game-high 22 points and three assists.

Micah Meiss (12 rebounds) then netted six of his 21 points in the second, his layup with 3 minutes, 55 seconds remaining in the half ballooning the EPG lead to 30-9.

Seneca, behind a pair of 3s by Ellis, closed out the half on a 7-0 run to trail 32-18 at the intermission.

“We wanted to make this an up-tempo game, but when you turn the ball over and don’t put the ball in the basket like we did in the first half, it makes it tough to do,” Seneca coach Russ Witte said, his team hitting just 33% from the field and committing nine of its 10 miscues in the opening 16 minutes. “In reality, and there isn’t a good way to say it, but we crapped our pants the first 11 minutes of the game tonight. I’m not sure where our heads were at.

“We were finally able to make a couple shots to finish the first half and get it back to a 14-point deficit. Then we started the second half well, and our defensive pressure picked things up. They helped us out a little with missed free throws, especially in the final few minutes.”

The Irish outscored the Titans 17-11 in the third with Giertz netting seven, then cut the deficit to two (51-49) with two minutes left on another Ellis triple.

Over the next 80 seconds, EPG missed six of 10 free throws, while a free toss by John Farcus and Giertz’s first long-range dagger kept it a one-possession game.

Seneca finished 39% (19 of 49) from the floor, while EPG sank a solid 57% (20 of 35) but went 9 of 19 from the line and committed 22 turnovers, nine in the final quarter and on all of its last three possessions.

“We turned the ball over way more than we wanted to, especially in the final couple minutes, and credit Seneca for much of that,” EPG coach Nathaniel Meiss said. “We just weren’t as strong with the ball as we needed to be in those last couple of possessions. We also missed way too many free throws.

“Those two shots Giertz hit in the final 30 seconds were just ridiculously big shots with hands in his face. Seneca just made big plays when they needed to, and in a postseason situation the team that does that more usually comes out on top. That was the case tonight.”

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At Seneca

Class 2A Seneca Regional

Semifinal

Seneca 56, El Paso-Gridley 55

EL PASO-GRIDLEY (55) — Raymer 1-3 0-0 3, Maxon 8-11 2-3 22, Schumacher 1-1 0-0 2, Meiss 8-16 4-6 21, Funk 2-3 3-8 7, Hinds 0-1 0-0 Miller 0-0 0-2 0, McNamara 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-35 9-19 55.

SENECA (56) — Klinker 0-1 1-2 1, Ellis 5-10 2-4 17, Giertz 6-15 1-2 16, Maierhofer 5-12 2-2 14, Provance 3-11 1-2 7, Farcus 0-0 1-2 1, Degrush 0-0 0-1 0, Siegel 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-49 8-15 56.

El Paso-Gridley (18-14) 19 13 11 12 — 55

Seneca (28-4) 8 10 17 21 — 56

3-point goals — El Paso-Gridley 6-10 (Raymer 1-2, Maxon 4-5, Meiss 1-3); Seneca 10-24 (Ellis 5-9, Giertz 3-8, Maierhofer 2-6, Provance 0-1). Rebounds — El Paso-Gridley 34 (Meiss 12, Raymer 6, Funk 6); Seneca 22 (Giertz 5, Provance 5). Assists — El Paso-Gridley 11 (Meiss 4, Maxon 3); Seneca 9 (Giertz 4). Steals — El Paso-Gridley 4 (Meiss 2); Seneca 12 (Ellis 3, Maierhofer 3). Blocks — El Paso-Gridley 1 (Maxon 1); Seneca 5 (Giertz 2, Provance 2). Turnovers — El Paso-Gridley 22, Seneca 10. Totals fouls (fouled out) — El Paso-Gridley 14 (Meiss); Seneca 17 (Provance).