Boys basketball: St. Bede’s underdog run ends with loss to Midland

VARNA – Playing in its first regional championship game in a decade, the No. 10-seeded St. Bede boys basketball team came out strong Friday.

Callan Hueneburg hit two early 3-pointers to give the Bruins an early lead, and St. Bede trailed No. 4 Midland by two points after the first quarter and at halftime.

However, a six-point run to start the third quarter gave Midland a cushion, and the Timberwolves maintained it throughout the second half before pulling away late for a 60-46 victory in the Class 1A Midland Regional championship.

“We got things going from the start,” St. Bede senior John Brady said. “Callan hit some big shots. We gave it everything we had. The second half we got a little sloppy with the ball, shots weren’t falling, and they were doing a great job defending what we had going.”

The Bruins made their underdog run against teams that beat them badly in the regular season.

After winning a quarterfinal over a Woodland team they’d split two meetings with, St. Bede upset No. 1 Marquette – which beat the Bruins by 34 points in November – before entering the regional final against a Midland squad that defeated St. Bede by 28 on Jan. 18.

“These past few weeks, it’s just been more of a heart thing – everyone wanting it more,” Brady said. “It’s just the grit everyone’s been having. Guys have been stepping up and making big shots.

“I’m proud of the guys for the way we’ve improved. We lost to Marquette and Midland by about 30 points each, and we improved and took down Marquette and played Midland close.”

Brady said the Bruins’ run to the regional final created excitement at the Academy.

“We had a lot of people reaching out,” Brady said. “It’s pretty cool. There was a buzz in the hallways. You look up at the banner, and we haven’t won a regional since 2000, so it was a pretty big deal to play in this game. It’s too bad we couldn’t come away with a ‘W.’ ”

Hueneburg buried two 3-pointers in the first three minutes to give St. Bede a 6-3 lead. The Timberwolves made a run to go up 11-6, but Brady drove the baseline for a bucket, and Hueneburg and Brady drained 3s to pull St. Bede within 16-14 by the end of the first quarter.

The Bruins held the lead three times in the second quarter, and the game was tied four times before Midland took a 30-28 halftime lead.

The Timberwolves opened the third quarter on a 6-0 run and led by at least six points the rest of the way.

“We fought like crazy,” St. Bede coach Brian Hanson said. “We had that little blip at the beginning of the [second half]. They got a little separation, and we had trouble scoring in the third. We kept fighting back, but that’s a good team. They handle the ball well. A 10-point lead for them felt more like 10-15 because they handle it so well.

“We were chasing points.”

Midland took its first double-digit lead on a second-chance bucket by Ben Collins with 3:21 left.

The Timberwolves dominated the glass, getting multiple shots on 13 possessions and scoring 12 second-chance points compared to one multishot possession and no second-chance points for St. Bede.

“They’re a big team and they rebound the ball well,” Hanson said. “We kept talking about trying to get position and boxing out, but they bested us on that. That was a huge part of the game.”

The Timberwolves made 9 of 10 free throws in the final two minutes to pull away.

Isaiah Hart led the Bruins (11-22) with 18 points, while Brady and Hueneburg scored 11 each.

“Nobody expected us to be here,” Hanson said. “It means the world to me as their coach that they got to experience this type of atmosphere and support. It means a ton that our younger guys can see what that’s like, get a taste of it and put a little enthusiasm behind them going forward.”