PEORIA, Ill. | Seton Academy's transition game never got going and neither did its inside game as the Sting fell to Breese Central, 57-4,7 Friday night in a Class 2A semifinal at Carver Arena.
After forcing seven first-quarter turnovers on Breese Central, Seton could force only nine more the rest of the game.
"We didn't get the opportunities off the turnovers to get into the flow of our offense," Seton coach Brandon Thomas said. "When we did have chances, we didn't take advantage of them. We just couldn't finish."
Seton was 16-of-60 shooting for 26.7 percent.
The turning point came at the end of the first half. With Seton up 25-19, Breese's Brandon Book scored five straight points, including a 3-pointer at the buzzer to close his team within 26-25.
Breese's Nick Grapperhaus said that fired up he and his teammates.
"I thought they had outplayed us in the first half," Grapperhaus said. "When Brandon hit that 3, and we were down one point, we could see it on their faces and we were pumped that we got within one."
Seton's Jordan Foster said that the Sting (28-5) weren't that upset about the way the half ended.
"That didn't hurt us at all," Foster said. "What did was not taking care of the ball in the third quarter and not converting."
Another was fouls as Seton was whistled for 25 to the Cougars' 12. Breese was 17-of-26 from the free-throw line, while the Sting was 12-of-24.
"They did a great job of playing defense," Seton's J.R. Tolliver said.
Book had 24 points and 14 rebounds for Breese (32-1) which will play Normal U-High today for the championship.
Seton will play Rockford Lutheran for third place. Foster led the Sting with 13 points.
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