Bondurant-Farrar boys basketball fends off Xavier, wins Class 3A state title undefeated

Bondurant-Farrar rode into the state boys basketball championship game with an undefeated record, and the Bluejays took advantage of 2-seed Xavier's foul trouble to win the Class 3A state title, 58-55, on Friday.

This was the Bluejays' first state title since 1997 and came in their first trip to the tournament since 2006, when they finished third.

“A lot of teams win a state title, but to go undefeated is something that is a rarity,” said Bluejays coach Travis Evans. “What these guys accomplished this year, taking everybody’s best shot, night in and night out. This is a winning group. That’s all they know how to do is win.”

More:Iowa high school boys basketball state tournament scores and schedule

Colby Collison led the Bluejays with 19 points in the championship matchup. Bondurant-Farrar finished the season perfect at 26-0.

The start to the title game was sloppy, at best. Both teams came out strong on defense: Xavier had three steals and had a hand in Bondurant-Farrar’s six turnovers in the first quarter, but the Bluejays won the rebounding (12-5) and blocking (2-0) battles.

The problem is that neither team took advantage of all of those momentum-making moments. Bondurant-Farrar had 3 points off turnovers; Xavier had just 2.

Both teams went back and forth in the first half, and neither program held a lead larger than 5 points over the first 16 minutes of play. Despite shooting 29% from the field — compared to the Bluejays’ 47.4% success rate — Xavier headed to the locker room with a 25-24 lead.

The Saints managed to stay on top despite foul trouble early in the second half. Bondurant-Farrar was called for zero fouls in the third quarter. But Xavier racked up six before the end of the third, and that gave the Bluejays five free points on seven free throws in the third.

Down by 5 to start the fourth quarter, Jaxson Fried nailed his first 3-pointer and then Cole Miller hit one of two free throws to cut away at Xavier’s lead. A little over a minute later, Reed Pfaltzgraff gave the Bluejays back the lead.

It didn’t last long, as Joe Bean scored on a jumper and the foul shot after to put the Saints up by 4. Neither team made a field goal for over two minutes, and free throws allowed Bondurant-Farrar to tie the game at 52 with 1:33 left to play.

More:7 Iowa high school boys basketball predictions for the IHSAA state tournament

Fried hit a fast-break layup to put the Bluejays up by 2 points with under a minute to play. Aidan Yamilkoski responded with a 3-pointer to take back the lead, but Xavier fouled twice in the final 30 seconds. Pfaltzgraff hit all four free throws, and that was enough to hold off the Saints in the end.

“I was just the one to step up and make free throws,” Pfaltzgraff said. “Our whole team has confidence in anyone to go out there and they’d make all four.”

Cole Miller played his best basketball in the tournament

Bondurant-Farrar’s 5-foot-9 sophomore averaged just 4.8 points and 2.4 rebounds over the course of the regular season and substrate play.

But he posted 18 points in the Bluejays’ first-round win against Algona and scored 12 in the semifinal versus North Polk. On top of that, he managed seven boards in the semifinals and had four assists and two steals against Algona.

“We wouldn’t be here tonight if it wasn’t for Cole in the semifinal,” Evans said. “He’s our leader at that point guard position. There’s a lot of things that don’t show up in the stat book.”

More:Here are the top 10 recruits at the Iowa boys state basketball tournament

Miller had 8 points, four rebounds and one assist in the championship matchup.

Xavier isn’t shy when playing in the paint

The Saints held a 26-18 scoring advantage in the paint and had 9 second-chance points. Bondurant-Farrar had none.

Tyler Netolicky — the Saints’ 6-foot-8 starting junior — is a large part of the reason why. He tipped in an offensive rebound off a shot by Yamilkoski to give Xavier the 1-point lead at halftime, and that’s just one example of his play in the paint.

The only issue with Xavier’s aggressive play in the paint is that it landed the Saints in foul trouble — which is what ultimately helped the Bluejays win the state title.

Alyssa Hertel is the college sports recruiting reporter for the Des Moines Register. Contact Alyssa at ahertel@dmreg.com or on Twitter @AlyssaHertel.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Bondurant-Farrar boys basketball wins Class 3A state title undefeated