Sacred Heart’s Season Ends in Substate Semis

After twelve straight wins, the Sacred Heart Knights season was ended in an upset loss to Hutch Trinity in the 2A substate semifinals. It was a tough loss to a great season for Sacred Heart, as they finish the year at 15-4 after a rough 3-3 start.

After going to three overtimes in their first matchup, the two teams were neck-and-neck through the first half. The Knights did a great job of slowing down the Celtics all-stater Luke Hammeke, as he was held to just seven points in the first half. Sacred Heart held a 26-25 advantage after the first half, led by 10 points from Caleb Gilliand.

The second half was much of the same. Hutch Trinity took their first lead of the game early in the second half before the teams traded buckets before a Walt Gray tip-in at the buzzer gave Trinity the lead heading into the final quarter. Trinity kept that momentum, as they opened the quarter on a 6-0 run to take the largest lead of the game for either team. Sacred Heart responded, cutting the lead to five before another quick Celtics run made it a 55-45 game with five minutes to play in the quarter. Sacred Heart responded with a pair of threes to trim the deficit to 55-51. That was the closest Sacred Heart would get, as Trinity held on for a 61-55 win to advance to the substate championship against 3rd-ranked Hillsboro on Saturday.

It was a great game for the Knights seniors, although it was not the way they wanted it to end. Jacob Gormley had ten points for the Knights. Caleb Gilliand finished with 26, a game-high. Mason Richards tallied 11, and Kobe Douglas gave the Knights six points.