Nagel, Pollack Propel Warriors to 3A State Semifinals

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The 2026 season for Deerfield will cultivate in a trip downstate.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Warriors got off to a fast start, which included a nice floater and a transition finish from Dartmouth signee Drew Pollack. It didn't stop from there, as senior guard [player_tooltip player_id='2217962' first='Evan' last='Nagler'] displayed excellent ball control. Creating additional buckets to pull the lead to 13 points after the first quarter.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>But the Spartans gained some momentum in the second quarter as they forced multiple turnovers with a high-trap in the first few minutes. Dylan Liner provided a huge spark off the bench to get them going as he fought for loose change on both ends and hit a few buckets to complement that. In fact, Deerfield was shut out for the first five minutes of the second quarter. It stayed that way until there was 10 seconds left in the opening half to give Deerfield a 20-17 lead at half. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Nagler opened the second half with a fast-break and-one score tp push the warrior lead to 5. [player_tooltip player_id='2125685' first='Tommy' last='Donahue'] followed it up with a spot-up 3-pointer to push the lead to 9. Sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='2369868' first='Charlie' last='Yellen'] also displayed great work as a facilitator with a few nice dimes in the third quarter, capped off by a floater. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>From this point on, it was all Warriors. [player_tooltip player_id='1552404' first='Jake' last='Pollack'] showcased a big effort on the glass. Complemented by a big and-one conversion to push the lead to 16 points.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>St. Francis responded in the first half with a big run. But it was not meant to be this time around. Deerfield held on for a 51-36 victory in a full-team effort. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->