By Jon Akre

605 Sports

“They came out ready to play and we talked about how they’re going to take a big swing and we just have to weather their storm,” said Hamlin guard Easton Neuendorf. “Once we weather it, we got to come back and make our swing, that was our main goal. We talked about making our swing coming out of halftime and going from there.”

The Chargers were able to find a rhythm towards the end of the third quarter as Evan Stormo and Easton Neuendorf tag-teamed an 8-0 run to take a 3-point lead with 3:19 to play.

But the game was ultimately decided in the fourth quarter as the Comets went cold from the floor scoring just three points on a Benson Kieffer 3-pointer. The Chargers on the other hand, exploded for 17 points to snag the double-digit victory.

“We got after him a little bit at halftime. We challenged them a little bit and made them guard,” said coach Neuendorf on the win. “We said to quit settling for shots. And we gotta finish shots. We can't be looking for calls. The main thing was the way we were guarding, we were letting them have too many easy shots.”

It was a tale of two halves for the Chargers shooting that powered the late surge. Hamlin shot just 33% from the floor in the first half, while notching 54% from the field in the second half, a testament to the halftime adjustments and the defensive clinic put on by the Chargers.

Hamlin also forced 18 turnovers that turned into 22 points on the other end.

“Honestly our defense,” said Easton Neuendorf on the biggest factor in the win. “We always preach defense leads to offense, and our defense stepped up so we got easier shots on the offensive end.”

Neuendorf led all scorers in the contest with 18 points, six steals and four rebounds, Zac VanMeeteren netted 14 points, four rebounds and four blocks, Stormo tallied 11 points, four rebounds and three assists, while Jackson Wadsworth had seven points, seven assists and five rebounds as well.

RCC’s Benson Kieffer led all Comets with 13 points and four rebounds, Simon Kieffer and Schlabach each tallied seven points, while Julius Frog scored six in the loss.

The Chargers advance to the Class A state championship for the second year in a row facing the same opponent in an all-Charger rematch with Sioux Falls Christian.

A championship rematch that’s been a year in the making will finally come full circle Saturday night at 7:45 p.m.

“It's 32 minutes. It's a half hour. It's two recesses is what we tell our kids,” said coach Neuendorf. “And you put all the chips on the table, and it doesn't matter what you've done all year. If you're one, if you're two, if you're six, if you're eight. For 32 minutes, whoever plays the best takes that home.”