Wilmes guides Bergan

Wahoo Neumann coach Mike Weiss was determined not to let recent history repeat itself Friday night.

After Fremont Bergan’s explosive duo of Wes Eikmeier and Brian Liekhus lit up Neumann for a combined 47 points in the team’s first meeting this season, the Cavaliers’ coach rolled the dice and challenged the Knights to find someone new to step up.

Junior point guard Jim Wilmes proved that he was more than up to the task as he scored 23 points to lead Bergan in a 68-45 victory over Wahoo Neumann.

“Jim Wilmes really pushed the ball hard for us and got us going up and down the floor,” Bergan coach Chris Paulson said. “He was hard to defend. They left him wide open in our offense and Jim’s a good enough shooter that he’s going to knock down those 3’s.”

With Eikmeier being held to a season low four points and Liekhus going scoreless for the entire first half, Wilmes took advantage of his ability to create off the dribble in addition to his open looks from long range. He hit his first five shots from the field and finished 8-of-11 with three 3-pointers.

“They put a lot of pressure on Wes and Brian so that enabled a lot of opportunities for other people to step up,” Wilmes said. “It feels good any time you can come out and help your team.”

Early on, Neumann’s defensive pressure created problems for Bergan as the Knights turned the ball over nine times in the first quarter. The Cavaliers opened the game on an 8-2 run and maintained their lead until midway through the second quarter.

With 5:15 left in the first half, Wilmes drove in between two defenders and converted a layup to give Bergan a 17-16 edge. Wilmes went on to add five more points and sophomore Dereck White contributed five as a part of a 12-0 run from which Neumann was never able to recover.

Bergan committed just two turnovers over the middle two quarters and hit 15-of-23 shots from the field as it took a 53-30 lead into the fourth period. The Knights maintained that comfortable margin to earn the 23-point victory.

Despite Wilmes’ big night, Weiss was pleased with his team’s approach to defense.

“I know Wilmes had a nice night and made some shots, but I’m not going to play dumb,” he said. “I’ve seen what (Eikmeier) can do and I know what Brian Liekhus can do even though I know Wilmes can shoot, too.

“...We had to go to a triangle-and-two (defense) and we tried to know where Wilmes was and keep him from shooting, but that’s not easy to do when you’re trying to watch Liekhus and Eikmeier.”

Paulson had his team prepared for Neumann’s junk defense. The Knights had nine different players score in the game with six tallying more points than Eikmeier.

“We didn’t force the issue,” Paulson said. “ I thought we got the ball inside where it was open. We became more patient and worked the ball through Joey (Spellerberg) and Isaac (Morrissey). Those two guys did a tremendous job of getting some easy buckets.

“We’ve seen these defenses now for I don’t know how many years. It’s nothing new to us... We’ve got kids that like the fact that they get the chance to score points. Our kids did a great job of being aggressive, going to the hole and getting those easy buckets.”

Liekhus came on strong late in the third quarter and hit three consecutive 3-pointers to finish with 11 points. With starting forward Travis Brown inactive due to illness, Wilmes also stepped up and led the team with seven rebounds.

Neumann was led by Brandon Chapek with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Cody Brousek finished with seven points.

Both teams return to action tonight with Bergan (19-0) traveling to Omaha Christian Academy and Neumann (9-7) playing in a make-up game at Louisville.

Neumann 10 10 10 15 -- 45

Bergan 8 26 19 15 -- 68

NEUMANN (45)

Brousek 2-6, 2-4, 0, 7; Spangler 1-5, 0-0, 0, 2; Hovotny 0-5, 0-0, 0, 0; Smith 1-2, 2-2, 1, 4; Bartek 0-3, 4-4, 3, 4; Luetkenhaus 2-5, 0-0, 1, 5; Kuhfahl 1-4, 1-2, 5, 3; Burbach 0-0, 0-2, 2, 0; McGill 0-2, 1-2, 0, 1, Garagiola 1-4, 0-0, 0, 2; Chvatal 1-2, 1-2, 4, 3; Chapek 4-8, 6-13, 4, 14. Totals -- 13-46, 17-31, 20, 45.

3-point field goal -- Brousek, Luetkenhaus.

BERGAN (68)

Liekhus 4-6, 0-0, 2, 11; Wendt 0-2, 0-0, 0, 0; Jensen 2-3, 1-2, 4, 5; Rasmussen 0-1, 0-0, 1, 0; Werth 0-0, 1-2, 1, 1; Wilmes 8-11, 4-6, 2, 23; Morrissey 3-3, 3-3, 5, 9; Krumwiede 0-0, 0-1, 0, 0; Spellerberg 2-7, 2-4, 2, 6; Eikmeier 1-6, 2-2, 2, 4; White 2-2, 3-3, 4, 7; Miles 1-3, 0-0, 1, 2. Totals -- 23-44, 16-23, 24, 68.

3-point field goals -- Wilmes 3, Liekhus 3.

Rebounds: FB 26 (Wilmes 7), WN 36 (Chvatal 11). Steals: FB 12 (Morrissey, Wilmes 3), WN 4. Turnovers: FB 16, WN 21.