Bears maul Cardinals 73-55 for sectional championship

Boys basketball teams played in the Blue River Valley 1A sectional March 4-8, 2025, with the Seton Catholic Cardinals losing the sectional championship to the Monroe Central Bears. Below is combined coverage of games covered by WWN throughout.

Bears end Eagles’ season 

The Cambridge City Golden Eagles opened sectional play on Tuesday, March 4, against the Monroe Central Golden Bears in a rematch of a regular-season game played on Jan. 3, which was closely contested until the Bears pulled away late to take a 65-56 win. 

The Bears, members of the Mid-Eastern Conference, are coached by Brian Klein, the brother of Lincoln head coach Rodney Klein. The game was close early, with the Bears clinging to an 11-10 lead at the end of the first quarter. The Eagles forged ahead early in the second period before the Bears started to use their interior size and perimeter shooting to take control of the game. 

The Bears found success going inside to 6-foot-5 Easton Foster, clamped down on defense and started hitting 3-point shots to turn the game in their favor over the final three quarters of play en route to a 73-35 win.  

The Bears ended the game with 13 made 3-point shots. 

Foster led the Bears and all game scorers with 21 points, Justus Ullom scored 15 points and Luke Morgan scored 14 points. Aidan Munchel led the Eagles with 15 points. 

It was the last game in a Lincoln basketball uniform for seniors Carson Hawk, Aidan Munchel, Evan Stuckey, Clayton Vickers and Oliver Webb.   

Monroe Central (16-6)   11   20   23   19    73

Morgan 14, Carter Wheatley 5, Ullom 15, Griffin Gannom 0, Jackson Konkle 9, Foster 21, Carter Duncan 0, Tashun Beatty 9 — Total 73

Lincoln (12-10)               10    8   10     7    35

Noah Patterson 0, Dustin Lunsford 8, Evan Stuckey 0, Ryne Sturgis 3, Ben Bates 0, Braxton Dick 0, Carson Hawk 0, Clayton Vickers 0, Caden Ripberger 3, Munchel 15, Elijah French 0, Oliver Webb 6 — Total 35

Cardinals eliminate BRV, move to semifinal

The Seton Catholic Cardinals defeated Blue River Valley 61-30 in opening- round action on Wednesday, March 5, to earn the right to advance to the semifinal round.

The Cardinals methodically pulled away from a 4-4 tie to build a 15-8 lead at the end of the first quarter and expanded their advantage to 34-13 by halftime. Jackson Feist and Jason Moynihan each scored 15 first-half points. 

The Cardinals continued to dominate in the second half, building their lead to 50-20 at the end of the third period. The Cardinals elected to slow the game’s pace in the final period and cleared the bench with nearly seven minutes to play. Eli Brown scored in the final seconds to make the final score 61-30, giving the Cardinals their largest lead.  

Feist led the Cardinals with 17 points, Moynihan scored 15 and Tyson Tremain scored 10 points. Landyn Bryant led the Vikings with 8 points. 

Cardinal head coach Josh Jurgens was pleased with his team’s play, but he refused to speculate on what might happen were his team to make it to the championship game on Saturday.

“At this point, we do not have a game Saturday; we have a game Friday against Union City, and that is our only focus,” Jurgens said. “I felt Jason (Moynihan) and Jackson (Feist) were really the driving force in the first half. They were playing at a different level than the other eight players on the floor. Their effort, their want and their energy was the difference in this game.”

The Cardinals move on to face Union City, who defeated Randolph Southern 49-40 in the first game played on Wednesday. The semifinal-round game will be Friday, March 7. 

Seton Catholic (15-10)    15    19    16     11    61

Grant Semler 4, Tremain 10, Eric Parker 7, Feist 17, Moynihan 15, Eli Brown 2, Ethan Nisewonder 0, Gavin Killion 1, Collin Murray 5 — Total 61

Blue River Valley (4-18)    8      5       7    10    30

Grant Beavers 2, Evan Blackburn 5, Iziah McAbee 3, Liam Guffey 2, Garrett McClure 0, Bryant 8, CJ Kimerly 2, Brayden Swoveland 8, Zane Howe 0, Johnny Howe 0, Dominic Pass — Total 30

Cardinals move past Indians into championship game

Defending sectional champion Seton Catholic used incredible balance to defeat the Union City Indians in the semifinal round of the Blue River sectional played on Friday, March 7. The Cardinals placed every starter in double figures to defeat the Indians 66-46 in a game that was never in doubt. 

Cardinal head coach Josh Jurgens said his team understands the team concept better than any team he has ever coached.

“I told them before the season that we were not going to have a consistent 20-per-game scorer on this team,” Jurgens said. “But if we could have a bunch of guys scoring 10 or 15, we would be successful, and that is where we are. The players bought in, and that speaks to their understanding of the concept of ‘team.’”   

The Cardinals ended the game with Eric Parker and Tyson Tremain each scoring 16 points and Jackson Feist, Jason Moynihan and Grant Semler each scoring 10 points en route to a 66-46 win. The Cardinals advanced to the championship game played on Saturday, March 8, to face Monroe Central, 70-25 winners over Union (Modoc) in the other semifinal game played on Friday. 

Jackson Cowper led the Indians and all game scorers with 19 points, and Jayson Connor scored 10 points. 

Seton Catholic (16-10)   66

Semler 10, Tremain 16, Parker 16, Colin Murray 4, Feist 10, Moynihan 10 — Total 66

Union City (5-18)            46

Connor 10, Luis Nieto 4, Caleb Lutz 0, Colton Emrick 5, Cowper 19, Kolton Mills 0, Trendon Spence 8 — Total 46

Bears maul Cardinals 73-55 for sectional championship

The defending sectional champion Seton Catholic Cardinals entered the championship game against Monroe Central at the Blue River Valley sectional on Saturday, March 8, riding a 10-game winning streak. The Bears, members of the Mid-Eastern Conference, presented a matchup problem for the Cards with their interior size and perimeter shooting. 

The smaller Cardinals battled the Bears through three quarters. The Cardinals held a slim lead in the second quarter and were still hanging around, only trailing by three points at 44-41, early in the fourth quarter before the Bears took control of the game. Easton Foster, at 6-foot-5, scored 7 straight points to help push the Bear lead to 11 points. 

After cutting their deficit to 8 points with three minutes to play, the Cardinals were forced to foul to try to get back in the game. The Bears converted on nine of 10 attempts down the stretch to pull away. 

Foster ended with a game high of 23 points, 17 of which came in the fourth quarter. Luke Morgan scored 18 points and Justus Ullom scored 13. Jason Moynihan was the leading scorer for the Cardinals with 14 points. 

It was the final game in a Cardinal uniform for seniors Jason Moynihan, Eric Parker and Grant Semler.  

Monroe Central (18-6)  73  

Seton Catholic (16-11)  55