Ballard survives Carroll to reach Iowa boys basketball state title game
· Yahoo Sports
DES MOINES — Ballard breathed a huge sigh of relief after its the Class 3A boys state basketball semifinal game against Carroll on March 11 at the Casey's Center.
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The Bombers had to withstand a furious Carroll rally in the final minutes to hold on for a 57-55 victory to punch its ticket to the 3A championship game on March 13.
"We won, that's the key thing, but we've got to play better than that, especially down the stretch," said Ballard point guard Jude Gibson. "We've got to come out and play better, especially on Friday."
Ballard scored the first 14 points of the game against Carroll. It appeared the Bombers were going to run away from the Tigers for the third time this season after sweeping its Raccoon River Conference rivals by scores of 57-41 and 58-41 during the regular season.
But that was not the case in the state semifinals.
The Bombers went up by 20 late in the second quarter, led 35-19 at the half and led by as many as 17 in the fourth quarter before Carroll ended the game on a 16-4 run to make things interesting.
The Bombers did not secure the win until they were able to knock out a missed free throw by Carroll's Jared Mohr with 4.7 seconds left and run out the clock.
Carroll went on a 9-0 run to close within 56-50, with Lual Tharjiath converting an up-an-under basket inside with 1:52 left in regulation to cap the run.
After Parker Miller made 1 of 2 free throws for Ballard, Landon Peterson scored a basket, and following two missed Bomber free throws Mohr hit 1 of 2 foul shots to get Carroll within 57-53.
The Tigers got the ball back after two more missed Bomber free throws — Ballard was just 1 of 7 from the foul line down the stretch. But this time Ballard had an answer defensively as Easton Ersland came up with his second big block of the second half on a Carroll 3-point attempt with 10 seconds left.
Carroll still had a sliver of hope after Mohr hit a basket while falling down with 4.7 seconds left. Mohr was fouled on the play, but he missed the free throw, and Ballard knocked it out to survive and advance to its second 3A state championship game since 2021.
"We haven't been in that situation much this year," said Ballard forward Evan Abbott. "We got down and now we've got one more game, and it's for it all."
Abbott led Ballard with 19 points and he also had four steals. Gibson finished with 11 points, seven rebounds, six assists and four steals and Parker Miller 12 points, eight rebounds and two assists.
Ballard won despite shooting just 9 of 21 from the free-throw line and finishing with 12 turnovers. Ersland and Bryce Miller both came up with big deflections in the final seconds to force Carroll to need to score twice in five seconds to make the comeback.
"It's good for us since we got through it," said Ballard coach Jeff Schertz. "I told the guys in the locker room afterwards I have total faith in them handling the ball and making great decisions. We made just enough plays."
Ballard's aggressive defense and big plays from Gibson, Abbott and Parker Miller helped Ballard dominate the first half. The Bombers continued to hold Carroll at bay for most of the second half, but they could not put the Tigers away.
Tharjiath scored nine of his 12 points over the final two quarters and Mohr also came up big, netting 13 of his 20 points over the final two quarters and also ending the game with 10 points, three assists and three steals.
Trey Tassell finished with eight points and seven rebounds for the Tigers, who finished 21-6.
Ballard will take a 25-1 record into the 3A state championship game against either Adel-Desoto-Minburn or Storm Lake. The Bombers will be going for their first state championship after coming up short against Pella in the 2021 3A title game.
"It's a dream," Gibson said. "We have a chance to make history at Ballard — why not."
Joe Randleman covers high school sports for the Ames Tribune. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @JoeRandleman
This article originally appeared on Ames Tribune: Ballard holds off Carroll to advance to boys basketball title game