Messenger photo by Britt Kudla: St. Edmond's Jack McElroy (right) and Jacob Nieland celebrate on Thursday during a Class 1A semifinal in Des Moines.

DES MOINES – We’ll see you Friday night, St. Edmond.

The top-seeded and top-ranked Gael boys used a huge third-quarter burst to eliminate No. 4 Burlington Notre Dame, 74-55, and reach the championship round for the first time since 2012 here Thursday afternoon.

Senior all-stater Hunter Horn had 27 points and 11 rebounds for the Gaels (25-2 overall), who broke the game wide-open after going into the halftime break ahead by three points. Head coach Adolph Kochendorfer’s squad outscored the Nikes (25-3) by a 22-11 count in that frame.

Carson Bargfrede (17 points), Grant Galles (13) and Jakob Koopman (10) also reached double figures for St. Edmond, which will be in the finals for the sixth time overall under Kochendorfer back at the Casey’s Center on Friday at 5 p.m. in the Class 1A championship tilt.

Koopman grabbed 10 rebounds and Bargfrede snagged seven.

The Gaels shot 38 free throws, making 26. Their defense stole the show, holding BND to 30.6% shooting and 23% from behind the arc.

Western Illinois recruit Shay Stephens had 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Nikes, but it took him 19 shots to get there.

St. Edmond won its only state championship in 2000, placing second in 2004, 2006, 2008 and 2012 under Kochendorfer’s direction.

The Gaels will face either second-seeded MMCRU or No. 6 seed Bellevue Marquette in the finals.