The Sterling Black Bears moved into the Kansas Class 2A state championship game with a 73-52 victory over St. Marys in the semifinals Friday night at Emporia’s White Auditorium.
Sterling, the defending Class 2A state champions, improved to 27-0. The Black Bears led at halftime 45-24.
Sterling will play Heart of America League rival Berean Academy (24-2) in the championship game at 6:30 p.m. Saturday. Berean Academy defeated St. Mary’s Colgan 61-35.
Sterling defeated Berean Academy 59-50 on Feb. 6 at Sterling. It is the only game Sterling has won this season by less than 10 points.
St. Marys (20-8) will play St. Mary’s Colgan (19-8) for third place at 11 a.m. Saturday.
The Sterling boys trailed 17-14 after one quarter but blew the game open with a 31-7 run in the second quarter for a 45-24 halftime lead. Both teams scored 28 points in the second half.
Boston Ekart, a 6-foot-6 senior, led the Black Bears with 33 points and grabbed 7 rebounds. Jacob Lewis scored 19 points and also had 7 boards. Blake Smith contributed 7 points.
Sterling had 16 assists and 12 steals. The Black Bears dominated in the paint 48-16 and forced 18 turnovers. Sterling’s biggest lead was by 27 points.
St. Marys was led in scoring by Benjamin DeVader with 17 points. Killian McCann scored 8 points. Zach Sommars and Louis Aecher each had 6 points. Sommars had 6 rebounds and 5 assists.
In the late semifinal, Berean Academy led at halftime 29-21 and 43-31 after three quarters. The Warriors put the game away with an 18-4 fourth quarter.
Nolan Swazy led the Warriors with 19 points and 8 rebounds. Jace Unruh added 14 points. Will Snook scored 8 and Tripp Beverlin 7. Brady Bettega led St. Mary’s Colgan with 17 points. Will Schremmer added 10 points.
