Dream season ends for New London

By Andy Krutsinger,

Mt. Pleasant News

DES MOINES ? The New London boys gave it everything they had in Monday afternoon?s state quarterfinal game against Remsen St. Mary?s, but the Tigers came up just short in their first state tournament game ever.

The Hawks jumped out to an early lead and held the advantage throughout the entire game to knock out the Tigers, 59-52.

St. Mary?s couldn?t miss early on in the game. The Hawks began the game with a three-pointer and jumped out to a 9-2 lead.

St. Mary?s stretched the advantage to high as nine points in the first period, thanks in part to four three-pointers in a six-minute stretch.

The Hawks held a 22-13 advantage with 11 seconds remaining in the first quarter, but a free throw and a strip and score by Keontae Luckett cut the lead to 22-16 after one.

?They took the first shot,? Coach Bryant Porter said about the Hawks? fast start. ?They had us back-peddling (and) had us dizzy a little bit. That?s kind of what we like to do and they did it to us.?

The Hawks hit another three-pointer to start out the second half but the Tigers went on a big run to cut the lead to one point.

Mason Porter and Ben Dentlinger each hit two shots as New London went on an 8-0 run to cut it to 25-24, with three minutes left.

After a jumper by St. Mary?s star Nicholas Ruden to stretch it to 27-24, Isaac McSorley cut it back to one point on a layup with one minute left.

Ruden, however, drew a foul and hit two free throws to stretch the lead back to three points, and St. Mary?s went to the locker rooms with a 29-26 lead.

At the break it was Porter who had the team lead, with 18 points. Dentlinger had eight.

St. Mary?s started the third quarter the same way they started the first two; with a set play that turned into a three-pointer. This one put the Hawks up by six points and the Tigers had to claw back all quarter.

New London trailed by as much as seven points in the third period, but they grabbed momentum right before the final quarter when Dentlinger rolled in a layup at the buzzer to cut it to 41-38 after three.

The Tigers weren?t quite at full strength, however, going into the final period. The injury bug hit New London one final time this season when McSorley went down with a lower body injury with just over two minuets left in the period.

?Ike brings a lot of energy to this team and he makes plays out of nothing, when it looks like nothing is there,? said fellow sophomore Porter postgame. ?For him to be hurt, (it) really hurt us.?

When the fourth quarter rolled around, the Tigers were finally able to throw the first punch of a period. Luckett hit a jumper in the first 30 seconds and the Tigers were on the cusp of the lead, trailing 41-40.

St. Mary?s immediately responded, however, with a 10-2 loss to stretch the lead to 51-42 with 3:41 left in the game.

The Hawks briefly held a double-digit lead, at 53-43 with just under two minutes left, but the Tigers still weren?t quite dead.

New London went on a 9-3 run over the next minute and a half. A steal and score by Porter, and a three-pointer by Alex Dentlinger gave the Tigers a little hope by cutting the lead to 56-52 with 25 ticks left.

Ruden hit one of two free throws for St. Mary?s on the other end and the Tigers had the ball down six, but Luckett?s three-point attempt was off and the Hawks closed it out with a couple of free throws to walk out with a seven-point win.

?We knew it could be our last quarter so we gave it literally everything we had,? said Luckett after the game. ?It just didn?t come out the way we wanted it.?

Porter finished the game with 19 points on 7-11 from the field, 2-3 from three-point land and 3-6 from the free throw line to lead the Tigers.

B. Dentlinger had 15 points in the loss, and also led the team with seven rebounds and five blocks.

Luckett scored nine points and led the Tigers with four assists. McSorley had four points and led the team with four steals, all of which came in the first half. A. Dentlinger finished with three points and Grant Swanson had two.

Ruden had 26 points and seven rebounds to lead St. Mary?s. Jacob Wesselman hit five three-pointers to finish with 19 points, seven rebounds, four assists and three steals.

Colin Schroeder was held to six points and four assists by the Tiger defense. Derrick Schorg had four points and the duo of R.J. Staab and Brody Ricke had two apiece.

The Hawks will play Des Moines Grandview, which dominated their quarterfinal game, in Thursday?s semifinals. Gladbrook-Reinbeck and North Linn also picked up wins on the day.

The Tigers graduate four seniors before next year; B. Dentlinger, Blake Nehring, Grant Lounsbury and Justin Henecke.

In the postgame press conference, Ben talked about closing his career out at The Well.

?It was just fun. Fun to do with all these guys,? he said. ?I love this group.?

Coach Porter and the younger Tigers expressed their desire to get back in the gym and get ready for another run next season.

?I think it?s going to be awesome (in the future),? said Luckett, a sophomore. ?We love each other. We?d do anything for each other. We just have to keep working.?