Messenger photo by Britt Kudla: Jakob Koopman of St. Edmond goes after a rebound against Hampton-Dumont/CAL on Tuesday night in the Gael gym. For more photos, please visit CU.messengernews.net

Sam Mericle came up clutch for St. Edmond.

So did Hampton-Dumont’s Tucker Heeren.

Mericle hit three free throws with 3.3 seconds left to tie the contest at 45-45 on Tuesday, but the Bulldogs answered immediately. Senior Gavin Meader threw a long pass on the in-bounds play that Mericle tipped, and it landed right in the hands of Heeren.

The Bulldog senior turned, fired up a three-pointer and drained it as the clock hit zeroes for a dramatic 48-45 H-D/C victory.

The triple was the only field goal in the period for the visitors, who were 5-for-6 from the charity stripe.

“We tried to slap the ball and stay out of the way so there was no foul,” SEHS head coach Adolph Kochendorfer said. “He just got the shot off clean with defenders on him and hit it.

“Sam came up big with those free throws, but they answered.”

The Gaels (10-10 overall) were inbounding the ball with 6.4 seconds left. Mericle threw the ball into Hunter Horn, who spun and found Mericle on the right side.

Mericle was behind the line when he double clutched his shot and was fouled by Meader.

The Gael senior bounced the first one through and drained the next two.

“Our guys are capable. We’re right there,” Kochendorfer said. “They work hard every practice.

“The effort is definitely there.”

St. Edmond built a 31-22 lead at the half after going up by as many as 12 in the opening 16 minutes.

The Bulldogs (11-6) stormed back in the third period, outsourcing the Gaels 18-7 to build a 40-38 advantage.

Brothers Scott and Brady Harr combined for 11 points in that frame. The bigs combined for 26 on Monday in a contest at H-D/C, but the Gaels held them to 21 on Tuesday.

It was the second time in as many days the North Central Conference foes met. On Monday night, the Bulldogs pulled out a 58-50 victory.

“After the first game, we talked about stepping out on their guards and contesting shots. We did a good job of that in the first half,” Kochendorfer said. “In the third quarter, they were able to feed the ball down low and get some points in the paint.”

The Gaels hit five field goals in the second half after connecting for 13 in the opening stanza.

Horn and Mericle had a big first half to spark the Gaels. Horn had 11 points on 5 of 8 shooting.

Horn also recorded four blocked shots and two dunks.

Mericle added 10 points.

Jakob Koopman helped give the Gaels a number of second-chance points, pulling down 11 rebounds.

Senior JT Laufersweiler had eight points on Senior Night. Thomas Cosgrove was the other senior for the Gaels.

The St. Edmond junior varsity lost 46-28 to the Bulldogs. Elias Kolacia led the Gaels with nine points. Ethan Swisher added eight.

This was the regular-season finale for the Gaels, as they open Class 1A postseason play on Monday against Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven-Ayrshire (10-10) in the SEHS gym. Tip is set for 7 p.m.

HAMPTON-DUMONT 48, ST. EDMOND 45

Hampton-Dumont — Tucker Heeren 4-11 3-5 14, Brody Walton 3-11 0-0 9, Gavin Meader 1-5 2-2 4, Scott Harr 4-7 1-2 9, Brady Harr 4-10 2-4 12, Tate Murray 0-1 0-0 0, Boyan Roussev 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 16-45 8-13 48.

St. Edmond — JT Laufersweiler 3-6 0-0 8, Jakob Koopman 2-4 0-0 4, Hunter Horn 8-15 1-1 17, Jack McElroy 1-6 0-0 3, Sam Mericle 4-10 3-3 13, Grant Galles 0-4 0-0 0. Totals: 18-45 4-4 45.

Quarter scores: HD led 15-14, SE led 31-22, HD led 40-38. Three-point goals: Hampton-Dumont 6-21 (Heeren 3-9, Walton 3-10, Meader 0-1, Brady Harr 0-1); St. Edmond 5-18 (Laufersweiler 2-5, Koopman 0-1, McElroy 1-5, Mericle 2-5, Galles 0-2); Total rebounds: Hampton-Dumont 24, St. Edmond 23; Turnovers: Hampton-Dumont 7, St. Edmond 8; Total fouls: Hampton-Dumont 7, St. Edmond 14.