Kelly storms back from 12 in final two minutes against Ste. Genevieve

STE. GENEVIEVE, Mo. — Kelly rallied from a 12 deficit in the final two minutes to win 65-64 at Ste. Genevieve on Thursday, Feb. 16.

Drew Klipfel hit a 3-pointer for the Hawks (12-13) with 25.7 seconds remaining to cut the lead to one point. Kelly quickly got the ball back and made a long jump shot to take the lead with about 13 seconds left in the game, and sent fans who made the trip into a frenzy.

“We were able to come back because we weren’t focused on how rough the sea was, we were just focused on getting the boat back to shore,” said Kelly coach Jeremy Brinkmeyer. “Our kids showed tremendous character and grit to stay together and positive even when times looked grim. The big turning point was at the end of the game when we told our guys not to foul and try to trap. Their guy was expecting a foul when we trapped and that lead to a turnover and a bucket. Then the next 10 seconds was a blur of just pure who wanted it more, and we fought and scrapped until we could secure the ball and the win against a really good team.”

Dalton Forck led the Hawks with 18 points, while Klipfel added 14 and Ross Peters contributed 10.

“We knew if we tried to play a half-court game against them it wouldn’t be pretty for us,” Brinkmeyer said. “After watching film we knew we needed to make the game fast-paced, sloppy, and ugly. We did that and did it well enough to win. We kept the pace fast enough that they couldn’t run a lot of their sets and half-court offense where they are most comfortable.

“Our standouts were our team, no one cared who scored or who was in the game we just worried about winning,” he continued. “It’s amazing what can be accomplished when a group of young men don’t care who gets the credit and just focus on achieving the same goal.”

Kelly received the No. 5 seed in the MSHSAA Class 3, District 2, and will face fourth-seeded Valle Catholic (15-10) at 8 p.m. on Feb. 20 at Saxony Lutheran High School.

Ste. Genevieve (18-5) hosts Perryville (5-20) to conclude its regular season on Feb. 23.

The second-seeded Dragons will face the winner of third-seeded Potosi and sixth-seeded Bayless in the MSHSAA Class 4, District 2 Semifinals at 7 p.m. on March 1 at Ste. Genevieve High School.

__KELLY 65, STE. GENEVIEVE 64__

Kelly 18 15 13 19 — 65

Ste. G. 17 15 11 21 — 64

__Kelly (65) —__ Dalton Forck 18, Drew Klipfel 14, Ross Peters 10, Brayden Volkerding 9, Michael Dollins 8, Reece Eftink 4, Hayden Pobst 2. FG: 25. FT: 8-12. F: 13. (3-pointers: Volkerding 3, Peters 2, Dollins 1, Klipfel 1. Fouled out: none.)

__Ste. Genevieve (64) —__ Richard Hunter 30, Aiden Boyer 14, Kaden Flye 10, Alex Basler 7, Tucker Reed 3, Carson Kreilich 2. FG: 26. FT: 5-9. F: 12. (3-pointers: Hunter 5, Boyer 1, Basler 1. Fouled out: none.)