Comets one step away from state berth with 64-61 substate semifinal win over Mustangs

By John Burbridge

sports@charlescitypress.com

CHARLES CITY — During the final seconds of Thursday’s Class 3A-Substate 4 semifinal featuring Mount Vernon and the hosting Charles City Comets, things didn’t look good.

Or rather, things looked really good.

At least that was the perspective for Mustang senior Brady Erickson, who got a wide-open look at the basket along the baseline in a bid to tie the game and send it into overtime.

The Comets were hanging on to a 64-61 lead with 4.3 seconds left in regulation and the Mustangs inbounding the ball near halfcourt. Mount Vernon got the ball to senior guard Jensen Meeker, who dribbled it to just off the top of the key, and — before the Comets were able to hack him with a foul to give — dished it to Erikson spotting up in the corner.

The ensuing shot looked good all along its arc to the basket, but drew a little too much iron and bounded high in the air before Charles City senior Chase Low also went high in the air to seize it just as the buzzer sounded.

Exhale Comet fans. Your team just advanced to the substate final for a chance for a berth to the Boys Basketball State Tournament for the first time since 1956.

Comet junior Kam Mestas scored 17 of his game-high 23 points in the second half.

Junior Keenan Wiley added 14, Low scored 11, junior Jack Hanson had 9 points and senior Brennan Schmidt scored all 7 of his points in the first half as his two 3-pointers on consecutive possessions helped give Charles City a 23-21 lead midway through the the second quarter after the Mustangs had gone up 14-6 late in the first quarter.

“I’m very proud of the way that we competed on both ends of the floor tonight,” said Comet head coach Ben Klapperich, whose team improved to 17-5 for the combined regular and postseason, and will face No. 4-ranked Marion (18-5) at Waterloo East High School, Monday at 7 p.m.

Marion defeated Decorah 71-68 in the other Substate 4 semifinal on Thursday.

“I thought our guys did a nice job of competing without the ball and we were fortunate to make enough plays to come out victorious,” Klapperich said.

A key moment in the game for Charles City came midway through the fourth quarter when it initially appeared it might be a major turning point for the Mustangs.

Hanson had just missed a layup that would have given the Comets a 6-point lead with Mount Vernon hanging around and refusing to go away even after Charles City had extended its lead to 10 points just about a time-clocked minute earlier. Hanson quickly redeemed himself by hustling to track down the Mustang ballhandler pushing it past the timeline with numbers on his side to knock the ball away for a turnover, which was immediately cashed in with a resounding two-handed slam-dunk by Mestas.

Joe Rhomberg had 16 points to lead the Mustangs (15-8).

“We did a nice job of identifying their best player after he (shot two 3-point field goals) to start the game,” Klapperich said in reference to the Mount Vernon junior Jackson Kutcher, who scored 11 all game after recording a quick 6. “It was a team effort to hold him well under his average (17 ppg).”

Class 3A-Substate 4 Semifinal

CHARLES CITY 64,
MOUNT VERNON 61

Scoring By Quarters

MOUNT VERNON 14 10 16 21 — 61

CHARLES CITY 10 20 17 19 — 64

Individual Scoring

MOUNT VERNON — Jenson Meeker 12, Evan Brase 15, Brady Erickson 5, Jackson Kutcher 11, Joe Rhomberg 16, Joe Briesemeister 2.

CHARLES CITY — Jack Hanson 9, Brennan Schmidt 7, Keenan Wiley 14, Chase Low 11, Kam Mestas 23.

RECORDS — Charles City 17-5, Mount Vernon 15-8