What a Win in Indianola

Sometimes you get done with a game, and you say “Wow, what a game”.  That is what we all said last night.  Simpson punched us in the mouth early, and made 4 straight 3’s to start the game.  They came out smoking and got up 33-19.  Wasn’t looking good for the road team.  But we caught our breath, and started making better defensive efforts, and actually got the lead at 38-37.  After Simpson scored the last 6 points of the half, we were actually still happy to be only down 5.  The 2nd half was a battle on both ends.  We made 4 FT’s in a row to get up 2, then  Travis Person makes a ‘3’ at the end of the shot clock to put us up by 5 with 25 seconds remaining.  It was a happy lockerroom, as we know we eeked out of there with a win.  Wins are so hard to come by, that you have to celebrate every win.  The team has been great on the glass this year, as we outrebounded them by 18, but I thought the difference in this game was the little guys.  Wagner, Franklin, and Holton were top notch.  They never go rattled and played collectively their best defensive game the last 30 minutes.  Their quickness rattled Simpson.  We also handled adversity well.  We never got uptight, and we just kept playing, and probably played just a little harder, but also improved as the game went on.  Excellent job of executing down the stretch to get some good looks.

It was also great to see so many former players at the game.  We had to have between 15 and 20 former players in the gym.  It was great to see them after the game.  I don’t think those guys realize this, but our success right now in our program is a direct result of those guys and all the hard work they put in when they were here.  Success breeds success, and when I look at all of those guys, I am proud to see how successful they are now in the working world, as husbands, and fathers.  They even still play poker together.  But these guys gave their hearts and souls for the good of the program, and it is so much appreciated, and our guys that we have now in our program completely understand what it takes to be successful.  We will not always win conference titles, and we won’t always play in the National Tournament, but in the end, they will play the game the right way, and risk it all for the good of the team.

To Dubuque we go.  We leave Friday night, stay in Dubuque and play at 4:00.  Dubuque has won 5 in a row, and are a hot team right now, alone in 3rd place in the conference.  They started out 0-3, and now have won 5 straight.  Robbie Sieverding has done a great job to right the ship, and get this team rolling.  It does not hurt, that he has the best scorer on the floor every game out.  Tyler Daugherty is really good and averaging 26 pts. the last 3 games.  Let’s see what Rahn Franklin, Erik Raney, and Jeff Bissen can do about that.  But they have also added a nice pt. guard at the semester break, and have a crop of talented, athletic posts, that are getting the job done right now.  Our posts have to have a better defensive game than we had at Simpson.  We need to block out better, and keep Dubuque from quality deep catches in the post.  

The first half of the conference schedule is done, and I did not see us going 8-0 to start, but we know it only gets tougher, and it starts Saturday.  We look forward to the challenges and it is so important for us to enjoy each and every day we spend with each other.  These are the times of our lives, so let’s see what we can do and have some fun.

GO Beavers!!

Coach VH

Posted by phelpss [Men's Basketball] ( January 24, 2008 02:17 PM ) Permalink | Comments[1]