• Photo Showcase: State tournament: Thursday

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LINCOLN — The large sign in front of the Millard South student section said "Believe".

But believe this: Second-ranked Lincoln Southeast, seeking its first state title in 18 trips to the boys state basketball tournament, wasn't about to look past the eighth-ranked Patriots.

The Knights proved to be too much for Millard South in a first-round Class A game Thursday night at the Devaney Center, rolling to a 67-47 victory. The win lifts Southeast (20-3) into an 8:45 p.m. semifinal Friday night and ends the season for the 12-12 Patriots.

"In the first round, you never know what's going to happen,'' Knights coach Jeff Smith said. "We played well for three quarters before we had a little bit of a breakdown in the fourth.''

The Knights led by 30 late in the third quarter but the Patriots fought back to make the game surprisingly close in the fourth. With the help of 11 Knights turnovers in the period, Millard South clawed back within 12 with 2:35 left.

"Our kids have tremendous heart,'' Patriots coach Steve Throne said. "They didn't shut it down, even when they were faced with that big deficit.''

Millard South actually had a chance to close within nine but a 3-point attempt by Kendrew Erickson with 2:10 left bounced off the rim. The Knights went on to outscore the Patriots 10-2 the rest of the way to put the game away.

Junior guard Derrius Vick led Southeast with 21 points. He scored 13 in the first half, four in the third quarter and four early in the fourth before the Southeast reserves took over.

"Vick was the bus driver tonight,'' Throne said. "He drove them to the next round.''

Senior forward Jaydee Jurgensen added 19 points and eight rebounds for the Knights while Eric Jackson and Cody Charlton chipped in nine apiece.

Millard South held its only lead of the game in the early going when Reagan Fowler sank a free throw to put the Patriots up 1-0. But consecutive 3-pointers by Vick and Jurgensen put the Knights ahead, and that advantage grew to 37-21 by halftime.

"They all handle the ball well and they can all shoot,'' Throne sasid. "They're just a really tough team to defend.''

The Patriots, making their first tourney appearance since 2002, had three players — Fowler, Kyler Erickson and Quentin Urban — score nine points each.

Millard South (12-12)............................7 14 7 19 -- 47
Lincoln SE (20-3)....................14 23 16 14 -- 67
• MS: Eddie Collins 1, Kyler Erickson 9, Reagan Fowler 9, Quentin Urban 9, Kendrew Erickson 2, Blake Headley 5, Brad Gruwell 7, Elijah Tostenson 1, Kyle Honeycutt 2, Nick Beck 2.
• LSE: Ryan Sievers 3, Jacob Salomons 4, Derrius Vick 21, Cody Charlton 9, Jaydee Jurgensen 19, Jeff Sheets 2, Eric Jackson 9.

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