• Photo Showcase: Friday's semifinals

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LINCOLN — With defending-champion Ravenna and top-ranked Axtell in the Class C-2 state tournament, it may have been easy to overlook fourth-seeded Fremont Bergan.

Everyone has taken notice now, now that the Knights advanced to the state championship game after upsetting Axtell 52-43 on Friday night at Pershing Center.

"This is as quiet a Bergan team as we've had in the last five years in terms of press or people talking about our team," Bergan coach Chris Paulson said. "Our kids think we have a pretty good basketball team. Everyone maybe thought Axtell was the team to beat. Our kids kind of took that as a motivational tool. They think they're the best team, or one of the best teams, and have as good a shot to win this as anyone."

The Knights (22-3) saw a 20-point lead in the first half shrink to just six in the fourth quarter but let the Wildcats get no closer.

Bergan got 13 points from John Spellerberg and 10 from Dereck White, but it was the Knights' 1-3-1 defense that was the story early on. The Wildcats shot just 22 percent (4-of-18) from the floor in the first half, while committing 11 turnovers. Bergan made 10-of-19 shots in the first half, including 5-of-7 3-pointers to lead 29-12 at the break.

"We've seen lots of 1-3-1 because a lot of teams don't think they can match up with us, but they kept us spread out and we weren't very aggressive," said senior Blake Fahrenbruch, who led Axtell with 12 points. "We were kind of passive and didn't attack the hoop very well."

Bergan led 12-7 after the first quarter, but pulled away early in the second as Axtell turned it over on five of its first six possessions of the quarter. Bergan scored 10 straight during the stretch, extending the lead to 15 with 4:31 left in the second.

Axtell regrouped out of the locker room to outscore Bergan 17-9 in the third quarter and cut the deficit to 41-35 on Fahrenbruch's two free throws with 4:22 left in the game. But the Knights scored the next five points and never saw their lead cut to fewer than seven the rest of the way.

"We got conservative in the second half, but for a good reason," Paulson said. "We knew the only way they could get back in the game was to fire up quick shots. We wanted to be patient. We had the control. We wanted to hold on to that. Our kids did a phenomenal job taking care of the basketball. We executed our offense very well tonight."

The Knights will play for the school's second state title in three years Saturday. Bergan won the Class D1 title in 2008.

Axtell (23-2)...................7 5 17 14 -- 43
Fremont Bergan (22-3)......12 17 9 14 -- 52
• A: Blake Fahrenbruch 12, James Clark 10, Fecht 7, Nick Robison 7, Bryce Runge 5, Fecht 2
• FB: John Spellenberg 13, Dereck White 10, Tanner Werth 8, Josh Boggs 7, Pat Rasmussen 5, Nick Jensen 5, Kurtis Kammerer 2, Tom Wendt 2

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