Bergan caps unbeaten regular season

Fremont Bergan got another victory and Wes Eikmeier got another milestone on Friday.

Bergan closed out a perfect regular season with a 79-57 win over Oakland-Craig while Eikmeier passed the 2,000-point mark for his career.

Eikmeier, a senior, needed 28 points to reach the milestone, which he got on a 3-pointer midway through the third quarter. The Iowa State recruit finished with a game-high 35 points.

"It’s a tough enough act in itself to score two points in a varsity basketball game, let alone 2,000," Bergan coach Chris Paulson said. "For most people, the career milestone that everyone talks about is 1,000 ... and to double that is incredible."

Bergan (21-0) rode Eikmeier’s hot hand early as he scored 12 first-quarter points while helping his team build a 26-18 lead.

An Eikmeier 3-pointer with 5:05 to play in the first half gave Bergan a 35-20 lead ad Bergan still led by 15 before O-C went on a 6-0 spurt to pull within nine late in the half. Eikmeier, though, scored with 3 seconds to play in the half to push Bergan’s lead back to double digits at 40-29.

"He’s a threat to go either direction and he’s tough to hedge on the screen and roll," Oakland-Craig coach Aaron Meyer said of Eikmeier. "He’s a Division I recruit for a reason and the best-case scenario is to keep a guy in front of him and hope that he’s having an off-shooting night."

Bergan’s depth took its toll on Oakland-Craig in the third quarter.

An 8-0 run - keyed by 3-pointers from Jim Wilmes and Brian Liekhus - pushed Bergan’s advantage to 20 points and Paulson’s squad led 63-44 going into the final quarter.

"It might not be early in the game where they’re going to get you with transition, but it gets you late," said Meyer, whose team fell to 13-8. "That’s where they got us."

Liekhus had 12 points, and Wilmes and Joey Spellerberg both added 10 for Bergan. Eikmeier led Bergan with nine rebounds.

Oakland-Craig was led by Zach Rosenboom’s 21 points and David Eriksen added 11. Eriksen and Rosenboom both had nine rebounds.

Both teams now will compete in subdistrict tournament play beginning next week.

Oakland-Craig is in the C2-5 subdistrict at West Point-Beemer. It has a first-round bye and will face either Omaha Brownell-Talbot or Omaha Christian on Tuesday.

Bergan also is the top seed for its tournament, the D1-2 subdistrict at Douglas County West. Bergan will play either Cedar Bluffs or Scribner-Snyder on Tuesday.

"We’re peaking at the right time and I still think we may have our best basketball in front of us, which is probably scary to some people," Paulson said. "I do think we’re still capable of better."

Oakland-Craig 18 11 15 13 - 57

Fremont Bergan 26 14 23 16 - 79

OAKLAND-CRAIG - Charling 0-2, 0-0, 1, 0; Blanc 0-3, 1-2, 1, 1; Krutilek 2-5, 0-0, 1, 4; Bollinger 3-10, 0-1, 2, 7; Wonka 2-10, 0-0, 0, 5; Lindstrom 0-0, 3-4, 0, 3; Hoffman 0-1, 0-0, 2, 0; Rosenboom 8-12, 5-7, 4, 21; Eriksen 4-7, 3-6, 1, 11; Fleischman 1-6, 3-4, 0, 5. Totals - 20-56, 15-24, 12, 57.

3-Point Goals - Bollinger, Wonka.

BERGAN - Liekhus 5-9, 0-0, 4, 12; Wendt 0-0, 1-2, 0, 1; Ahrens 0-1, 0-0, 1, 0; Jensen 2-2, 1-2, 2, 5; Brown 2-7, 0-0, 0, 4; Wilmes 2-4, 4-6, 4, 10; Spellerberg 5-8, 0-0, 1, 10; Eikmeier 12-26, 7-7, 3, 35; White 1-2, 0-0, 3, 2; Miles 0-0, 0-0, 1, 0. Totals - 29-59, 13-17, 1, 79.

3-Point Goals - Eikmeier 4, Liekhus 2, Wilmes 2.

Rebounds: OC 40 (Rosenboom, Eriksen 9), FB 30 (Eikmeier 9). Turnovers: OC 20, FB 10.