KIRKWOOD – Nestled behind the three-point line and in front of the Vianney student section, a small sliver of gymnasium floor can now be referred to as Karsten’s Corner.
Sophomore Ben Karsten came off the Vianney bench to drain six 3’s, including consecutive triples from the same spot, and helped the Griffins retake control of their state quarterfinal game on Saturday.
“My teammates have confidence in me. I was ready to shoot, and they were finding me,” Karsten said.
Eddie Smajic scored 26 points and Luke Walsh and Karsten added 18 apiece to propel Vianney to a 71-54 victory over Sikeston in a Class 5 quarterfinal matchup Saturday at Vianney High.
Vianney (24-6), which advanced to its second state semifinal in program history and first since 2013, will face Jefferson City (13-19) at 2 p.m. Wednesday at Mizzou Arena in Columbia.
Of the 19 losses for Jefferson City, 13 are self-imposed forfeits after the Jays’ athletic department discovered it had failed to fill out a required transfer form and self-reported the violation to the Missouri State High School Activities Association.
De Smet (25-5) and Winnetonka (25-5) will face off in the other Class 5 semifinal at 4 p.m. Wednesday. The Class 5 state championship game will be played at 6 p.m. Thursday.
After missing his first two attempts, Karsten drained a pair of three-pointers late in the second quarter, including one that beat the halftime buzzer and gave the Griffins a 36-28 lead at intermission.
As the game became more intense, so did the drama of Karsten’s threes. His third triple came from the opposite corner and gave Vianney its largest lead at 47-36, but as he started back down the floor, he was whistled for a technical foul.
“I held my follow-through and their guy bumped into me. I guess (the officials) thought I said something, but I was just trying to get back on defense,” Karsten said.
The technical foul gave a boost to Sikeston (28-2) and the Bulldogs quickly capitalized. Long rebounds led to fast breaks with the explosive Dontrez Williams as the finisher. Williams scored 25 points and was the catalyst for a 9-0 run in a 1:40 span that cut the Sikeston deficit to 47-45 in the final minute of the third quarter.
That is when Karsten’s Corner opened for business.
He positioned himself in front of the Vianney student section, received a baseline pass from Walsh and drained a 3 before time expired in the third quarter. He opened the fourth quarter with consecutive threes from that identical spot on the floor and the Vianney lead expanded to 56-48.
“Playing playoff basketball, you always need guys to step up and hit huge shots and that’s exactly what Ben did. I’m super-happy for him,” Smajic said.
Smajic finished the job from there. The Vianney sophomore converted a putback in transition, drained a straight-away three and sank 7-of-8 free throws. He scored 12 of his 26 points in the decisive fourth quarter and helped Vianney earn a long-awaited trip to the final four.
“This is definitely the best experience I’ve had as a Griffin so far. I don’t think it hit me yet, but we’re going to Columbia,” Smajic said.
The Omen
A memory from exactly 11 years ago popped up on Vianney coach Kevin Walsh’s phone prior to the game Saturday morning. It was a picture of the Griffins’ basketball team celebrating in the locker room after their state quarterfinal win in 2013 with Walsh’s son – 6-year-old water boy Luke – standing in the middle of the celebration.
“When I saw that, I thought, ‘That has to be a pretty good omen,’” Kevin Walsh said.
It was Luke Walsh who hydrated the Griffins offense after the team went 2-for-12 from three-point range to begin the game. Walsh abandoned the three-point line and drove into the paint, converting a tough layup in traffic, a strong baseline drive and a putback.
“Luke did a good job getting downhill, which has really become a nice piece of his game,” Kevin Walsh said. “Whether he was finishing or kicking out, it put them in defensive rotations, made them chase us and got us some open looks.”
Smajic followed that lead, driving to the rim to score twice. On offense, the normally sharp-shooting Griffins did considerable damage in the paint while preventing Sikeston from getting out in transition, controlling the offensive glass and imposing their will.
“(Sikeston) lives on crashing the offensive boards and we kept them off the boards,” Kevin Walsh said. “They had a stretch where they really got going downhill, but defensively we had them pretty frustrated because they couldn’t get to the rim and we did a good job of rebounding the ball.”
Powered by Karsten, the long-range attack got rolling in the second half, as Vianney finished the game 13-for-31 from three-point range after a slow start. Karsten paced an impactful performance by the Vianney bench that included high-energy minutes from senior Charlie Spoonhour and tough defensive rebounding from freshman Chase Duke.
“I love our depth. I think that’s a little bit of a hidden strength of ours. The guys who come off the bench all provide big minutes for us,” Kevin Walsh said.
And Luke Walsh, once a fixture on the Vianney bench as the water boy, watched with emotion as his father climbed a ladder, clipped the final strand and waved the net over his head in celebration.
“I’m so happy for my dad. We dreamed about this while I was growing up,” Luke said.
Kevin added, “To share this with him is special.”
