Little things help WACO boys basketball win district title against New London
MEDIAPOLIS -- Singer/songwriter Sonny Bono reminded us decades ago that it's the little things that mean a lot, but he wasn't crooning about basketball.
Nevertheless, WACO High School's boys basketball team used the little things to their advantage on the Vernon "Bud" McLearn Court Tuesday night.
Defense, patience and other little things propelled the Warriors to a 52-48 win over New London in the Class 1A, District 10 championship game.
WACO (20-4) advances to Saturday's 7 p.m. Substate 5 championship game against Danville (22-2) at a site to be determined. That winner earns a berth in the state tournament.
Danviille advanced with a 44-41 win over Winfield-Mount Union at Donnellson Tuesday night.
Related: What we learned in Danville win over Winfield-Mount Union in a Class 1A district final
Simeon Reichenbach's 3-pointer gave WACO a 28-26 lead with 1:51 remaining in the first half and the Warriors never trailed again.
New London, however, posed plenty of threats.
It was the third meeting this season between the two SEI Superconference South Division teams with them splitting the two regular season contests.
"The first time we played them (a 60-57 New London win Dec. 3) they were without their all-state guard Blaise Porter and it went to double overtime due to our lack of making free throws," WACO coach Paul Kissell said. "The second time we played them (a 67-48 WACO win) they were without Kade Benjamin in there, their all-state post. So this is the first time they had the full complement of players.
"We just did what we had to do, which was play solid defense, limit their looks on the offensive boards and in transition and we were successful at that," Kissell said. "That's why we have the score that we did tonight."
WACO "did the same stuff and we felt prepared," New London coach Bryant Porter said. "I always tell my guys that preparation is nothing without execution. We didn't execute as well as I wanted to, but at the end of the day they came together as a team. They didn't get the total result they wanted, but I hope that they learned from this."
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WACO scored the game's first six points, but the Tigers heated up with an 11-point run. Devin Swanson scored 10 of those points, including two 3-pointers. He finished with game highs of 16 points and four 3-pointers.
WACO chipped away. Chase Waterhouse's 3-point play to close the first quarter pulled the Warriors to within 16-15 at the quarter break.
New London crept to a 26-23 edge, but WACO's Mason Miller hit a basket and Waterhouse followed with his 3-pointer to recapture the lead. WACO was up 32-26 at the half.
"We were just looking to attack as often as we could and try to spread them out," Kissell said. "We were on a spread set. We were looking for a back door and they did a nice job countering that. It just came down to kids making plays at the end. That's what the game's about when two teams are evenly matched like this. The kids just have to go out there and perform."
New London pulled to within a point at 33-32 on a Blaise Porter layup with 6:24 left in the third quarter, but WACO scored the last eight points of the period for a 46-37 lead.
With 2:31 left in the game, Swanson hit another trey and New London trailed just 48-46, but the Tigers would get no closer.
Hunter Hughes and Colton Leichty scored 12 points each to lead WACO. Reichenbach added nine points. For New London, Blaise Porter had 11 points, Kade Benjamin scored 10 and Camden Kasel added eight.
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WACO prepares for Danville, another South Division rival. In the regular season, Danville beat WACO 43-38 and 39-37.
"We played them twice and they've been two great games." Kissell said. "They got us both times. It was another overtime loss the second time, so we're looking for a third match.
"This has been a good opportunity for the Southeast Iowa Superconference South Division and so we're just glad to represent them and represent the communities of WACO, Wayland, Crawfordsville and Olds," Kissell said. "They did a great job of turning out here tonight and that was just as much putting pressure on (New London) as anything was."
More: What we learned in Fort Madison's win over Oskaloosa in Class 3A substate boys basketball
New London ended its season at 20-3.
"It hurts right now, but you know, like I told the guys, I said you always hear that you work your butt off and you get results," coach Porter said. "But that's not true. Sometimes you work your butt off and don't get the result you want. You just have to learn from that.
"We had the same team. We ran a little different stuff, but we didn't execute the newer stuff," Porter said. "We had a couple guys not shoot well. It probably burned them a little bit. When you're not shooting well, your defense goes to crap. When you're hitting, you play a better defense. I thought a couple guys didn't play the greatest on defense, but hopefully them being young they can learn from this.
"When I started this (about 10 years ago) it was all about you have to learn to compete before you start winning." Porter said. "We've done that. We've competed. We've won. Now we've got to turn the corner and compete and win and play at a high level more consistently.
"That's the hard part, but going into the next season I don't feel pressure to win. I just like to win. If we're not getting the results we want we've got to change stuff, maybe change the coach. So I'm not feeling any pressure. This hurts. Obviously, I'm going to go home and think about what I could have done better. We'll just come into next year and be ready to go again."
WACO (52)
Isaac Oswald 0 0-0 0; Simeon Reichenbach 4 0-0 9; Hunter Hughes 4 1-2 12; Zach Schmitz 0 0-0 0; Mason Miller 2 1-2 5; Reece Oswald 2 1-2 5; Chase Waterhouse 2 2-3 6; Cody Graber 1 0-0 3; Colton Leichty 5 2-3 12. Totals: 20 7-13 52.
NEW LONDON (48)
Torren Riley 0 0-0 0; Kooper Schulte 0 3-4 3; Camden Kasel 3 0-0 8; Blaise Porter 4 2-2 11; Devin Swanson 6 0-2 16; Bowen Glaha 0 0-0 0; Rylan Martin 0 0-0 0; Kade Benjamin 4 2-2 10. Totals: 17 7-10 48.
WACO. 15. 17. 14. 6. — 52
New London. 16. 10. 11. 11. — 48
Fouls: WACO 10, New London 17. Fouled out: None. Technicals: None. 3-point goals: WACO 5 (Hughes 3, Reichenbach, Graber), New London 7 (Swanson 4, Kasel 2, Porter).
Records: WACO 20-4, New London 20-3..
This article originally appeared on The Hawk Eye: WACO boys basketball holds off New London down the stretch
