The Saints head to the Class 2A Regional Final vs the winner of Tri-Valley and Tremont (Photo Courtesy Madison Roberts, You Name It Sports)
By Nick McClintock
BLOOMINGTON- Three pointers were falling from all over the court at Central Catholic High School Tuesday night, as the home team Saints rolled over Cornbelt Conference foe Olympia 59-41 in the Class 2A Regional Semifinal.
John Rave got the Saints started with back to back triples to go up on the Spartans 6-2.Jake Reinhart hit another from behind the arc a little later in the quarter and Rave would hit his third of the quarter with inside of a minute left in the first quarter. When the dust settled, the Saints would lead the Spartans 16-8 at the end of the first period, with 12 points coming from the three point line.
Olympia couldn't stop the attack in the second quarter as well, as the Saints extended their lead into the double digits. The Spartans would get out of their zone defense at the midway point in the quarter, hoping to stop the offensive onslaught, and it seemingly held for the rest of the half. The Spartans would chip away at the lead on the shoulders of Tom Hallstein, whose 12 first half points helped cut the Olympia deficit to six at the half 31-25.
The third quarter went much the way of the first for both teams, as the Saints continued to rain in three pointers and the Spartans struggling to keep up. Reinhart was the star of the quarter for CCHS, hitting two triples, en route to a 14-5 run that lasted the entire third period.
CCHS would lengthen out their lead to 20, at 50-30 early on in the final quarter, before Olympia would finally stop the bleeding, and drop the advantage to 13. CCHS wouldn't let the lead drop any further though, as the Saints would simply run out the clock and take the 18 point win.
Central Catholic advances to the regional championship on Friday, their opponent will be revealed later this week. CCHS was led in scoring by Jake Reinhart with 22.
Hallstein led the 15-15 Spartans with 15 points.