RETURN THE FAVOR
Gaels exact revenge from earlier road loss

Messenger photo by Britt Kudla: Carson Bargfrede of St. Edmond tries to score against the Humboldt defense on Tuesday night. For more photos, please visit CU.messengernews.net
St. Edmond head coach Adolph Kochendorfer wanted to see his team compete against Humboldt here on Tuesday night.
The seventh-ranked (Class 1A) Gaels did that and more, securing a season split with the Wildcats by hanging on for a thrilling 71-68 victory.
Hunter Horn scored a game-high 28 points, with Carson Bargfrede adding 20 and Andrew Clavey 13 for St. Edmond (16-2 overall, 10-2 in the North Central Conference), which had dropped a lopsided 95-66 decision earlier this year at Humboldt (11-6, 8-3).
With the win, the Gaels snapped an 11-game losing streak versus the Wildcats and tilted the series back in their favor since 2006 at 18-17.
For Humboldt, Mason Van Pelt and Valley Davis led five players in double figures with 14 points each. Elliot Carlson had 12 points, with Jackson Flaherty and Coen Matson tallying 11 a piece.
“I told our guys before the game that if you want to make noise in the postseason, these are the kinds of games against good teams that you have to really compete in,” Kochendorfer said. “They did that. Even when things weren’t going their way, they never hung their heads and they battled.
“I’m extremely proud of them for that.”
St. Edmond was far from perfect, committing 16 turnovers while also going just 8-for-17 from the free throw line. Bargfrede and Clavey, though, combined for 10 three-pointers.
“They are both very capable shooters,” Kochendorfer said. “I thought we did a much better job of finding them in rhythm. With Hunter inside, once they started knocking down shots, things opened up for him to go to work.
“Hunter is just so good at being patient and working around the basket.”
Bargfrede’s second triple of the first quarter gave the Gaels an early 11-6 lead, with the advantage again hitting seven on a traditional three-point play by Horn later in the period. Humboldt, though, would battle back like they did all evening, closing the gap to three.
St. Edmond again led by as many as seven in the second period, and took a six-point edge into the break. In the third, a Jakob Koopman bucket gave the Gaels their biggest edge at 10 before the Wildcats quickly sliced it back down to two on a Matson triple.
Despite going just 4-for-12 from the charity stripe in the fourth, St. Edmond never trailed. Clavey hit a 3-pointer to extend the lead from two to five, and Bargfrede knocked down another trey after Humboldt cut it to 67-66 with 95 seconds left.
“In games like this, you never know when the ball is going to bounce a certain way,” Kochendorfer said. “Our kids just kept battling and fighting, and so did Humboldt. It was a really tense game and a great postseason-like environment.”
Horn pulled down eight rebounds. Koopman finished with six points, seven rebounds and blocked four shots. Clavey also had a pair of blocks to go along with three boards, while Jack McElroy had five rebounds.
St. Edmond hits the road to play Pocahontas Area on Thursday, before returning home Friday with a showdown vs. top-ranked (3A) Clear Lake — the only other team to defeat them this season. They will also honor the 2000 state championship squad that evening.
Humboldt heads to Iowa Falls-Alden Friday night.
ST. EDMOND 71, HUMBOLDT 68
St. Edmond — Andrew Clavey 4 1-2 13, Jakob Koopman 3 0-0 6, Jack McElroy 1 0-2 2, Hunter Horn 10 7-10 28, Carson Bargfrede 7 0-3 20, Grant Galles 1 0-0 2, Ty Mericle 0 0-0 0. Totals: 26 8-17 71.
Humboldt — Jackson Flaherty 4 2-2 11, Coen Matson 4 0-0 11, Elliot Carlson 4 4-4 12, Jackson Dodd 2 0-0 4, Mason Van Pelt 5 3-4 14, Valley Davis 7 0-0 14, Chase Flaherty 1 0-0 2. Totals: 27 9-10 68.
Quarter scores: St. Edmond led 20-17, 41-37, 54-52. Three-point goals: St. Edmond 11 (Clavey 4, Horn 1, Bargfrede 6), Humboldt 5 (J. Flaherty 1, Matson 3, Van Pelt 1). Total rebounds: St. Edmond 30, Humboldt 29. Steals: St. Edmond 4, Humboldt 11. Blocked shots: St. Edmond 6, Humboldt 1. Turnovers: St. Edmond 16, Humboldt 11. Team fouls: St. Edmond 12, Humboldt 18. Fouled out: J. Flaherty.