Nighthawks upset No. 3 Faith, 61-38

ABERDEEN — The Tripp-Delmont/Armour boys’ basketball team proved once again something that more than a few teams have found out the hard way.

The Nighthawks can attack a zone defense.

Sixth-seeded TDA picked apart Faith’s 2-3 zone defense over and over and dominated for four quarters as it trounced the third-seeded Longhorns, 61-38, in a Class B state quarterfinal Thursday night at Wachs Arena on the campus of Northern State University in Aberdeen.

“For a little while there at the beginning, I did think we were in love with the outside shot,” Nighthawks coach Burnell Glanzer said. “But then Jared (Hermanek) started getting himself open on the inside and (Michael) Nour started banging around.

“Jared really had a nice game. He got to that little half hook that’s so hard to contest. When we get that to mix it up with the inside-out game, it really helps us out.”

Hermanek scored 21 points on 10-of-14 shooting and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead the way for TDA, which will face No. 2 Hitchcock-Tulare in a state semifinal at 8:45 p.m. today.

Hermanek, a 6-foot-2 junior, did much of his damage in the paint during a third quarter that saw the Nighthawks outscore Faith 17-4 and put the game away with a 12-0 run just after halftime.

“The zone is my favorite defense to play against,” said junior forward Tyler Payer, who finished with 16 points and eight rebounds. “When Adam (Fink) is such a good penetrator and he and Tom (Heisinger) can penetrate to the middle, it leaves me wide open for threes.

“And then they come out on me and Adam can hit that midrange jumper. The zone is just my favorite defense to go against, period.”

Payer hit a pair of first-quarter threes to give TDA a slim four-point advantage after one quarter, but then the Nighthawks’ defense took over. TDA allowed just 13 points in the second and third quarters combined to open up a 21-point lead.

Fink finished with eight points and five assists and Nour chipped in six for TDA, which got its starting five some much-needed rest at the end of the game.

“Well, (getting our kids some rest) can’t hurt, that’s for sure,” Glanzer said. “Hitchcock is going to be a real challenge; they have very athletic kids, very strong kids. Joey Mitchell is the real deal and that’ll be fun to watch between him and Adam. We’ll have our work cut out for us.”

Mitchell, a 6-foot-1 point guard for Hitchcock-Tulare, nailed a pair of late free throws to clinch the Patriots’ 41-37 win over James Valley Christian on Thursday.

“Hitchcock-Tulare is very scrappy and strong,” Payer said. “Those kind of teams have given us trouble, but lately we’ve been playing great together and we’ve been playing loose. When we play straight-up defense like we did tonight, we’re a hard team to beat.”

TRIPP-DELMONT/ARMOUR 61, FAITH 38

Tripp-Delmont/Armour (19-5)

Michael Nour 1-3 4-4 6, Adam Fink 3-11 1-2 8, Tyler Payer 6-10 2-2 16, Jared Hermanek 10-14 1-2 21, Tom Heisinger 1-3 0-0 3, Riley Lau 0-0 0-2 0, Michael Mingo 0-1 0-0 0, Jeremy Shirey 0-0 0-0 0, Dylan Peters 0-0 1-2 1, Reece Weber 0-0 0-0 0, Taylor Youngbluth 0-0 0-0 0, Josh Nichols 1-3 0-0 2, Cody Dozark 1-3 2-2 4. Totals 23-48 11-15 61.

Faith (21-3)

Kirk Hohenberger 2-8 0-0 4, Jeremy Samuelson 1-6 2-2 4, Jarret Inghram 5-16 0-0 12, Skyler Hulm 1-2 0-0 2, Brock Williams 3-7 0-2 6, Cody Bernstein 0-0 0-0 0, Sean Bogue 0-1 0-0 0, Caden Smiley 0-0 0-0 0, Cody Trainor 2-4 0-0 5, Jhett Williams 0-1 2-4 2, Jade Keffeler 1-4 1-1 3, Kolbi Selby 0-1 0-0 0, Royce Hanies 0-0 0-0 0, Seth Smith 0-1 0-0 0, Drew Vance 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 15-51 5-9 38.

Tripp-Delmont-Armour 18 31 48 61

Faith 14 23 27 38

3-point field goals — Tripp-Delmont-Armour 4-14 (Fink 1-4, Payer 2-6, Heisinger 1-3, Mingo 0-1); Faith 3-14 (Hohenberger 0-1, Samuelson 0-2, Inghram 2-7, Trainor 1-3, Selby 0-1). Fouled out — Inghram. Total fouls — Tripp-Delmont-Armour 16; Faith 17. Rebounds — Tripp-Delmont-Armour 37 (Hermanek 10); Faith 27 (Inghram 6, B. Williams 6). Turnovers — Tripp-Delmont-Armour 10; Faith 8. Assists — Tripp-Delmont-Armour 17 (Fink 5, Heisinger 5); Faith 8 (Inghram 3). Blocked Shots — Tripp-Delmont-Armour 3; Faith 4. Steals — Tripp-Delmont-Armour 5; Faith 6 (Samuelson 3).

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