• Photo Showcase: Friday's semifinals

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LINCOLN — Deverell Biggs finished off a memorable scoring performance at the state tournament with what else?

A pass.

The senior hung in the lane and found teammate Akoy Agau under the hoop for a bucket with 3.5 seconds remaining, and it held up as the game-winner in Class A No. 4 Omaha Central's 53-52 win over second-ranked Lincoln Southeast Friday night in the semifinals of the boys state basketball tournament.

Biggs finished with 35 points — including 25 of his team's 33 in the second half — but it was his fourth assist that has the Eagles in the state finals for the fourth time in five years.

“We weren't calling a whole lot,” Central coach Eric Behrens said. “He was bringing it up and he was attacking and he was making plays.”

He did all three on the sequence that produced the winner. After Southeast's Derrius Vick sank a pair of free throws with 11.2 seconds to go to put the Knights up 52-51, it was Deverell time.

He got out of the grasp of two defenders, took the inbounds pass, went the length of the court, made a move to get into the lane, hung in the air to draw a defender and dished to a waiting Agau right under the basket.

“We wanted anybody to catch it but him,” Southeast coach Jeff Smith said.

Agau, a 6-foot-7 freshman center, laid it in and sent those dressed in purple into a frenzy. After a timeout the Knights would throw a pass the length of the court that Biggs got his hand on, tipping it away. Eric Jackson picked it up and attempted a spinning 3-pointer from the left wing that fell short, sparking pandemonium part two.

“I thought he was just going to go and finish the way he had been playing,” Agau said of the final play.

So did everyone else in the Devaney Center. Biggs put on a show in the second half, scoring all eight points for the Eagles in the third quarter, then their first 14 in the fourth. His 3-pointers on three consecutive Central trips turned a 37-30 deficit into a 39-39 tie in a minute and a half.

“We were trying to make him beat us from the outside,” Smith said, “and he basically did it.”

His career high scoring output came at the perfect time for the Eagles, who looked a bit sluggish after a Thursday night rout. Agau, after 15 in the opening round against Lincoln High, had just six all night.

“Ten more seconds and they (Southeast) probably get another one,” Behrens said. “We're just happy to get a win.”

Derek Shouse led Southeast with 17 points. Vick added 14.

Omaha Central (22-4)............................13 7 8 25—53
Lincoln Southeast (20-4)...................9 8 15 20—52
• OC: Akoy Agau 6, Sean McGary 5, Deverell Biggs 35, Dominque McKinsie 7.
• LSE: Jacob Salomons 5, Derrius Vick 14, Cody Charlton 2, Derek Shouse 17, Jaydee Jugensen 12, Eric Jackson 2.

Contact the writer:

850-0781, nickrubek@hotmail.com

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