LINCOLN — It was a little longer than he'd hoped by his coach had always told Trevor Menke to get a clean shot to win the game. Beatrice even took two timeouts so their senior star could visualize it.

Menke took an inbounds pass with 5.5 seconds to play, dribbled around a screen and hit a 27-foot 3-pointer as time expired to lift Beatrice past Lincoln Pius X 55-54 in the quarterfinals of the Class B state tournament at Pershing Center.

The miracle shot completed a seven-point, fourth-quarter comeback for the Orangemen (18-5), who avenged a 47-41 loss to the the rival Thunderbolts in the district title game.

After Dustin Oberembt gave the Thunderbolts a 54-52 lead on a layin with 12.3 seconds to play, Beatrice advanced the ball to midcourt and called timeout. Beatrice Coach Jim Weeks had no doubt about who was going to take the final shot.

"Ever since eighth-grade, Coach Weeks told me to always get a clean shot to win a game," Menke said. "We decided in the timeout we were going to set a ball screen and try to get a three to win it."

Beatrice then called a second timeout after seeing where officials would place the inbounds pass.

"I asked Trevor 'What do you want to do?'" Weeks said. "Trevor said 'Give me a ball screen.' I said 'Which way do you want to go?' He said 'Either way. I'll hit it.'"

For Menke, who led all scorers with 18 points, it was his third 3-pointer of the game and undoubtedly the biggest shot of his life. It capped a rally for Beatrice, which trailed 48-41 with 4:18 left when Orangemen senior Tommie Bardsley fouled out on a charge. Bardsley led Beatrice at the time with 14 points.

It also capped Menke's own personal comeback from a broken bone in his foot which sidelined him throughout most of January and February.

"He's just an amazing kid," said Weeks, who had shed his shirt and tie inside a jubilant Beatrice locker room. "He's been doing this for us for four years."

After Bardsley fouled out the Orangemen moved to a full-court press as Pius X began to milk the clock. Menke pulled Beatrice to within 52-50 on a drive with 1:01 left, followed by the defensive play of the game.

Pius X senior Trevor Johnson, who led the Thunderbolts with 10 points appeared to get free near the basket, but Beatrice senior Daniel Jenkins, who was playing in his first game for the Orangemen after transferring from Independence (Kan.) Senior High before district play, soared to block the shot.

Jenkins followed the block with a short jumper to tie the game 52-52 with 32.4 seconds left. He finished with nine points, all in the second half.

"Here's the story. You have 14 kids in (the locker room) that tell a new kid that moved into town three weeks ago that we'll give up playing time," Weeks said. "We'll give up our playing time so you can be a part of our team. That's what it's all about for those guys."

Pius X got off to a hot start, leading 18-13 after one quarter thanks to eight points off the bench from sophomore Matt Powell. Jack Burt scored nine points and Oberembt added eight more for the Thunderbolts, whose season ends at 17-5.

"I told them 'If we play as hard as we can and as well as we can tonight then the scoreboard will take care of itself," Pius X coach Ray Forycki said. "But, they're in no mood to listen to me right now. They're hurt."

The Orangemen, in search of a fourth straight Class B finals appearance, advance to face Omaha Skutt in today's semifinals.

Beatrice (17-5)............11 12 13 19 -- 55
Lincoln Pius X (17-4)........18 13 10 13 --54
• B: Trevor Menke 18, Tommie Bardsley 14, Phil McClure 10, Daniel Jenkins 9, Tandon Dorn 2, Maxx Claassen 2
• L: Trevor Johnson 10, Jack Burt 9, Matt Powell 8, Dustin Oberembt 8, Stuart Sucha 7, Chad Gibney 4, Ben Lewandowski 4, Joey Werning 3, Jared Kohlbush 1

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