MORAN — If there was a bright spot Saturday for Crest High, it was that the Class 1A regional championship loss to St. Paul was not a season-ender for the Lancers.
In defeating Altoona-Midway two nights earlier, Crest was assured of advancing to substate action, regardless of how Saturday’s contest ended.
St. Paul made sure there was little drama to be had, blitzing its way for a 19-4 lead after one period, and cruising from there to a 53-19 romp.
Crest (10-13) will have a few days to stew over the loss before traveling to Emporia at 7:30 p.m. Thursday to take on Lebo (20-3) in the substate semifinal.
“When the curtain falls on our season, we’ll have an opportunity to put on a better showing than we did tonight,” Crest head coach Travis Hermreck said. “They started out shooting the ball well, and I was disappointed with how we folded our tents after that.”
St. Paul pushed its lead to 34-11 at the break and 48-16 after three. The 32-point spread triggered a running clock through the fourth period.
Zach Beckmon led Crest with nine points. Tyson Hermreck added five.
Adam Albertini scored 14 to lead the way for St. Paul. Caleb Lemmons followed with 10.
BOX SCORE
Crest (4-7-5-3—19): Hermreck 2-1-2-5, Miller 2-0-1-4, Coleman 0-1-1-1, Beckmon 4-1-1-9. TOTALS: 8-3-5-19.
St. Paul (19-15-14-5—53) (FG/3pt): Chs. Bradshaw 0/2-0-1-6, Lemmons 5-0-0-10, Wiatrak 0/1-0-0-3, Smith 2-1-1-5, Albertini 5/1-1-1-14, Dent 4-0-2-8, Winter 0-0-2-0, Chd. Bradshaw 2-0-1-4, Marillo 0/1-0-0-3. TOTALS: 18/5-2-8-53.
