De Smet Falls to Troy in State Quarterfinal

On a day of big upsets, followed in footsteps and was brought down by the Troy Trojans one step short of a trip to Columbia for the final four. In a state quarterfinal game on Saturday evening at UMSL, The Spartans (23-5) could only watch as the Trojans (19-10) hit 10-for-10 from the charity stripe in the last 1:45 of the game, to turn a four-point lead into the final 68-56 score.

 The Trojans were lead by senior guard Neil Branham’s game-high 26 points, followed by junior guard Derek Deters with 22.

 “Give them credit,” De Smet coach Kevin Poelker said. “They played really, really hard. They executed really well. They made really big plays all night long. They were really great tonight.”

 He said Troy played disciplined basketball, and found the right shots. “Role players stepped up and made big baskets when they needed it,” he said. “They scrapped for loose balls. They went to the boards really hard.” They did all the little things that make the difference, he said.

 De Smet was up 16-14 after the first quarter behind the shooting of senior forward David Corwin, who was team-high with 15, senior guard Christopher Jacobs (13 total) and sophomore guard James Barton (nine total).

 Troy had a 31-25 advantage at the half, and maintained a 45-42 lead after three quarters. The Trojans held onto at least a two-point advantage throughout the rest of the game.

 “We talked about defensive rebounding being the key,” Troy coach Ryan Meyers said, “and I think we guarded every possession…De Smet’s a great team, they're well coached, they’ve got some great players. But we came together as a team, and played together on both ends.”

 De Smet sophomore forward Nolan Berry said, “I think we had a really good season. We played hard, unfortunately this is not how we wanted it to end, but we’re going to come back next year, stronger.”

 “Post season experience is a great thing,” Poelker said. “We’ll sit down the next couple of weeks and really talk about what we learned this year, and see what we can do going forward.”

 Troy advances to the state semifinal game on March 11, in Columbia.