De Smet Falls to Troy in State Quarterfinal
De Smet's 23-5 season comes to an end against Troy's disciplined, hard-hitting on the boards play.
On a day of big upsets, De Smet followed in Chaminade’s 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 …
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