The Year in Sports

COLUMBUS -- The year 2007 brought us plenty of drama in the sports world.

Just take a look in college football with upsets every week and the national championship picture coming into focus in the final week of the regular season.

The same thing can be said about the Telegram-area sporting scene in 2007. It was filled with stories that brought us everything that had the fans at the edge of their seats.

Just ask the ones of the Clarkson football team, the St. Edward and Leigh basketball teams, both the Humphrey High and Humphrey St. Francis volleyball squads and many more that watched their teams play, whether in the regular season or postseason. The postseason runs were filled with plenty of drama and excitement.

Of course, there was some individuals and teams that really didn’t have drama in their seasons.

Whether there was or not, it still brought excitement and some disappointment to everyone involved, and that’s what made the year 2007 so great.

Now, we present to you a look back at the top 10 moments in Telegram-area sports for 2007. Before we get into the list here are the moments that just missed making the list:

Honorable mention:

• Columbus High’s Jared Sharman overcomes a blood clot in his shoulder to swim at state meet.

• Columbus High’s Paul Hansen throws school’s first perfect game in a 10-0 win over Omaha Roncalli.

• Lakeview boys soccer team beats Scotus for the first time ever in a 1-0 shootout.

• Lakeview beats Scotus in volleyball for first time since 1981 at Scotus Invite.

• Scotus girls soccer team advances to state semifinals for 13th consecutive year.

• Columbus Bank Seniors finish 2-2 at Class A American League Division State Baseball Tournament.

• Central basketball falls in Jack Gutierrez’ final home game as head coach.

Without any further ado, here are the top 10 moments in Telegram-area sports.

1. St. Edward wins first-ever boys basketball title in victory over Spencer-Naper in D-2 championship:

This was a David vs. Goliath matchup in the Class D-2 state championship game.

The St. Edward boys basketball team was playing in its first state championship game since 1923, while Spencer-Naper was 26-0 and was playing in its fifth championship game in the decade.

But led by Telegram Super Senior Jeremy Cruise, Shavontae Samuels, Evan Carlstrom and others, the Beavers overcame a stingy Pirate defense and shoelace problems to hoist the Class D-2 trophy in a 46-42 win to finish the season 24-2.

It took St. Edward a while to get used to the Bob Devaney Sports Center surroundings, and Spencer-Naper took advantage in the early going, racing out to an 8-2 lead.

Then the Pirates used a slow-down tempo offense and a 2-3 defense to limit the Beavers’ high-scoring offense, which came in the tournament averaging 66.9 points a game. But St. Edward settled down and eventually tied the score at halftime at 22-all.

Cruise had to exit the game in the third quarter because he had to replace his shoestrings, which apparently had given him problems all year long, and Spencer-Naper led 31-28 going into the final quarter in his absence.

But Samuels found a wide-open Cruise, who had just re-entered the game, and he tied the game with a 3-pointer. Samuels drove through the 2-3 defense time and time again and found open shooters like Cruise and Carlstrom, who hit 10 3s in the tournament and also did it while sporting a mohawk.

The Beavers finished the game by hitting 6 of 8 free throws as the St. Edward fans, who sat behind the media table, stood as one and let out a loud roar with time expiring.

The thing that might have helped St. Edward going into the state tournament was a 68-59 loss to Ewing in the Class D2-2 district finals, forcing the Beavers to qualify for state as a wild card. Coach Aaron Martin and his squad used that as fuel and time to refocus.

It worked as St. Edward wasted little time in an 89-52 win over Sumner-Eddyville-Miller in the opening round and then held off Wallace 54-43 in the semifinals.

2. St. Francis girls win third consecutive title easily:

One of the hardest things to do in sports is to defend a title, let alone win it three times. Apparently, someone forgot to tell that to the Humphrey St. Francis girls basketball team during the 2007 Class D-1 state tournament.

The Flyers wasted no time as they breezed through the tournament to win their third consecutive state title with 26-0 record. St. Francis averaged 64.6 points per game and gave up 36.5 points.

As expected, St. Francis had no problem with its opening round game with Palmer, cruising to an 88-31 win. The 88 points the Flyers scored in the first round tied the same record they set in 2005.

Then against Axtell in the semifinals, St. Francis trailed 24-21 at the break. But the Flyers came storming out of the locker room, scoring 28 points in the third quarter, failing to score on just three possessions, en route to a 20-point victory.

Then the Flyers wasted no time in the championship game against Freeman, racing out to an 44-16 halftime lead and never looking back in a 77-27 win, avenging a loss to the Falcons in the Class D-1 state volleyball championship game earlier in the school year. Michelle Wieser led the way with 17 points, while Telegram Super Senior Kendra Bender added 16 points and Janelle Kosch chipped in 13 points.

What was impressive about this championship was St. Francis had to replace four starters from the 2006 state championship team. But the seniors of Bender, Kosch, Wieser, Jennifer Eisenmenger, Nora McGill and Traci Sueper led the way to leave no doubt that the Flyers were the best team in Class D-1 during the 2006-07 season.

3. Clarkson football takes runner-up trophy in Class D-1:

Losing in the Class D-1 state championship game to Elgin Pope John? How about winning to get there.

The Clarkson football team defeated the Flyers of Humphrey St. Francis 22-20 in overtime the week before state to set up Clarkson’s first-ever trip to Memorial Stadium in Lincoln. The game was the second one of the year played against St. Francis, with the Flyers taking the first decision 30-28.

The victory sent the Red Devils forward to new pastures they had never seen before. Half the town of Clarkson arrived in Lincoln to root on their team, according to Clarkson head coach Jim Clarkson. Though the game did not go as the Red Devils would have liked, falling 39-30 to a speedy Pope John squad, the Clarkson crowd still cheered heartily for their players, and the players themselves never gave up.

Down 17-0 at the half and 24-0 midway through the third quarter, Clarkson fought back into the game with quick scores on trick plays to make it 32-16 with the entire fourth quarter to go. After the Crusaders scored on the first play of the next possession, the Red Devils scored two more times but couldn’t get closer.

As the Clarkson players and coaches walked off the field following the game to receive their state runner-up trophy, their crowd comforted them by telling them how much they appreciated their team and how hard the Red Devils worked for their 10-3 season.

4. Leigh’s season ends in loss in Class D-1 state championship game:

Playing in its first state final since 1926, the Leigh boys basketball teams magic season came to an end in a 71-60 loss to Wauneta-Palisade.

Thanks to first-year coach Jason Brown, the Panthers entered the Class D-1 state tournament with a 21-2 record and defeated Class D-2 state champion St. Edward in the regular season.

The Panthers took care of business in their 74-58 over Freeman in the first round and in a 77-58 win over Loomis in the state semifinals

Leigh hung with Wauneta-Palisade in the first quarter, trailing 9-8. Then the Broncos used an 11-0 run and put the Panthers in a hole they couldn’t dig out of as Wauneta-Palisade led by as many as 21 points. The Panthers did manage to trim the deficit to 10 in the fourth quarter but time ran out on their rally.

The Panthers finished with a state trophy for the second time in school history. They brought home the Class V runner-up in the 1926. But Brown said the eight seniors in the program laid everything on the line every day in practice and during games.

5. Scotus’ 18 straight state tournament appearances snapped, along with 14 consecutive trips to finals:

The 18th straight trips were impressive enough already.

All the players that were on the Scotus Central Catholic roster have always known the Shamrocks of being in the state tournament. But the state tournament streak, along with a state-record 14 straight trips to the finals, came to an end in a 22-25, 26-24, 25-20, 21-25, 15-7 loss to St. Paul in the the Class C1-7 subdistrict championship match at Columbus High School.

In the first set, the Shamrocks took control early, with everything going right in all phases of the game, as they jumped out to an 18-8 lead. St. Paul cut the lead to 21-19 before Scotus took the first set on a kill from Katie Beiermann. The whole match completely turned at the end of the second set when two questionable calls at the end gave the Wildcats the set, and they took that momentum into the third, jumping out to a 7-1 lead and never looking back.