• Photo Showcase: Iowa boys state basketball tournament

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DES MOINES — It's a long way from 6-9 to the semifinals of the state basketball tournament.

That's why nobody is having more fun right now than the Carroll Kuemper boys.

The eighth-seeded and unrated Knights played giant killer Monday night, stunning top-rated and top-seeded Des Moines Christian 65-53 in a Class 2-A quarterfinal at Wells Fargo Arena.

“We knew we were good. We just didn't know we were this good,'' said Kuemper sophomore Carter Daniel, who came off the bench to collect a career-high 20 points to go with eight rebounds.

With its first state-tournament win in 15 years, Kuemper (16-11) advances to Thursday's 2 p.m. semifinal against fifth-rated and fourth-seeded Western Christian (23-3), the 2007 and 2008 2-A champion.

Des Moines Christian (26-1) entered with the best record in the 32-team tournament. It's going home after losing to the team with the worst record in the tournament.

“The magic continues,'' Kuemper coach Tyler Edwards said. “They respected Des Moines Christian a great deal, being 26-0 and ranked No. 1. But we didn't fear them at all. Our kids battle in practice every day and they battle in that Hawkeye Ten. Our kids were just ready for the task.''

Kuemper played with a vengeance, attacking the offensive boards, outscrapping the Lions for loose balls and heading for the front of the rim every time they had a numbers advantage on offense.

With the ball and eight-point leads at the 3:30 and 3:00 marks of the fourth quarter, Kuemper could have chosen to pull the ball out and work the clock. Edwards said that hasn't always worked well this year, so the Knights slammed their feet on the gas.

“Our kids got in a flow, and we just wanted to let them go,'' he said.

After a Kuemper turnover, Michael Carney's three-point play cut it to 51-46 with 2:50 remaining. Bryce Berg scored on a feed by Taylor Pudenz for Kuemper, but Carney buried a 3 to pull the Lions within 53-49 with 2:20 left.

Berg missed a runner for Kuemper, but Lion standout Branden Stubbs (25.8 ppg) was called for a charge with 1:53 left.

On assists from Pudenz and Cody Williams, the relentless 6-foot-3 Daniel sandwiched two baskets around a Lion 3-point miss. That pushed the Knight lead to 57-49 with 1:19 remaining.

Des Moines Christian got no closer the rest of the way.

“Tonight things didn't go our way, but you've got to give credit to the other team. They played really hard,'' Lions coach Dave Stubbs said.

Williams, a fiery 5-9 junior, played an outstanding all-around game with 17 points and five rebounds.

“We had nothing to lose as the No. 8 seed,'' Williams said. “They had everything to lose.''

Williams was at the heart of Kuemper's decisive 15-4 run.

With Kuemper trailing 35-34 late in the third, he scored to put the Knights on top by one. Then, with time winding down, he forced an off-balance jumper with a hand in his face that found the bottom of the net. He was fouled on the play, and the free throw with 2.0 seconds left gave Kuemper a 39-35 lead heading to the fourth.

“I don't know how I made that,'' Williams said.

Williams later scored off a Pudenz steal to complete the 15-4 run. That basket put Kuemper up 49-39 with 4:10 remaining. Williams had nine points in that burst, Daniel had four and Bryce Berg two.

“Cody's our sparkplug,'' Edwards said. “He's our Energizer bunny, and we kind of feed off his energy.''

Bryce Berg, a 6-1 junior guard, ended with 15 points for Kuemper, the smallest school in the Hawkeye Ten Conference. Despite starting 2-5 and 6-9, Berg said the Knights believed they could make some noise in the postseason.

“Des Moines Christian's good, but we're used to that kind of competition,'' he said. “I think we knew we had a chance. We just really played well. We didn't settle for 3s and we hit the glass.''

Williams seemed a bit awed about what his team had just accomplished, considering where it had been. Also a football and baseball standout, he was asked where the win ranked among his athletic experiences.

“It's at the top,'' he said. “The crowd and the atmosphere — it's unbelievable.''

In their 12th state appearance, the Knights now face Western Christian, one of the state's storied programs.

“Coming from Ida Grove, I know how good northwest Iowa basketball is, I know how good Hull Western is,'' Edwards said. “That's another monster, but we'll be ready to fight on Thursday.''

Carroll Kuemper (16-11)...................14 14 11 26—65

Des Moines Christian (26-1)..............15 15 5 18—53

• CK: Bryce Berg 5-9 5-7 15, Taylor Pudenz 1-2 0-0 2, Cody Williams 6-16 4-7 17, Matthew Berg 0-4 1-2 1, Andrew Schleisman 3-5 1-2 7, Alex Wiederin 0-0 0-0 0, Michael Greteman 0-0 0-0 0, Alex Wagner 0-0 0-0 0, David Hicks 1-6 0-0 3, Carter Daniel 9-12 2-4 20, Kyler Ludwig 0-0 0-0 0, Kent Henderson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 25-54 13-22 65.

• DMC: Ryan Blumer 1-4 0-0 2, Nana Yaw Sapon-Amoah 4-8 1-4 9, Michael Carney 5-12 1-2 12, Austin Stubbs 5-9 1-5 11, Branden Stubbs 5-17 4-4 15, Jared Jones 1-5 0-0 3, Sean Glenn 0-1 0-0 0, Alex Van Gundy 0-0 0-0 0, Seth Vande Voort 0-0 0-0 0, Soloman Keithley 0-2 1-2 1, Aaron Ventling 0-0 0-0 0, Sean Eikenberry 0-0 0-0 0, Tanner Price 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 21-58 8-17 53.

• 3-point goals: CK 2-10 (Williams 1-2, Hicks 1-5, M. Berg 0-1, B. Berg 0-2), DMC 3-19 (B. Stubbs 1-4, Jones 1-5, Carney 1-7, Blumer 0-1, Glenn 0-1, Keithley 0-1). Total fouls: CK 14, DMC 20. Fouled out: Blumer, A. Stubbs. Technical fouls: none. Rebounds: CK 38 (Daniel 8), DMC 34 (Sapon-Amoah 12). Assists: CK 12 (Pudenz 5), DMC 8 (B. Stubbs 5). Steals: CK 7 (Daniel 3), DMC 7 (A. Stubbs 4). Turnovers: CK 12, DMC 11.

Contact the writer:

444-1055, kevin.white@owh.com

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