Tigers give GVC everything they got

DES MOINES — The New London boys’ basketball team left it all out on the floor Monday afternoon against top-ranked Grand View Christian.

Not a lot of people, except for the New London faithful, even gave the Tigers a shot against the No. 1 Thunder, even going as far to say they were 31 point underdogs.

New London showed the haters they were dead wrong in the Class 1A state quarterfinal game at Wells Fargo Arena.

While the Tigers didn’t come out on the winning end, falling short to the Thunder 61-51, New London made them work hard for it.

Coming in, the Thunders closest games of the season were of seven and nine points, making the 10 point margin the third lowest of the season.

GVC’s point differential against its opponents was 33.2 points. The Thunder also had the height advantage against the Tigers, which included a pair of players that were 7’0“ and 6’9 “.

New London didn’t back down.

“The word this week was 'fearless,' knowing we were going against somebody that size,” New London senior Kade Benjamin said. “We just had to go in and take it at them. We knew we were going to get blocked at some point. We just had to live with the results.”

Benjamin, who was matched up on Thunder 7’0“ Daniel Tobiloba for much of the game, finished with 14 points and a team-high nine rebounds.

The Tigers couldn’t have asked for a better start.

Brendan Richey scored the game's opening points, drilling a three in the corner just 26 seconds into the contest.

“Our coaches just preached it all week, just come in there and defend and not even worry about their height,” Richey said. “We just went out there and battled. We knew it was going to be a tough game.”

Richey, a junior, finished with nine points for the Tigers.

GVC followed with four straight to take its first lead, 4-3. The Tigers quickly got it back as Blaise Porter went right at Tobiloba for a pair.

After exchanging the lead once again, a pair of twos from Benjamin and another deep ball from Richey gave the Tigers their largest lead of the game, 12-6, late in the first quarter.

“We won't back down from anything,” Porter said. “Going up against the one seed, we came and played just like we would in a home rivalry game. The atmosphere was awesome. Our fans were awesome. All we could do was come out with energy.”

Porter would finish with a game-high 15 points in the loss.

In the final 40 seconds, the Thunder gained some momentum as guard Josh Sanderson hit a pair of floaters, the final with three seconds on the clock.

At the end of the first quarter horn, the Tigers held onto a 12-10 lead. That’s the first time this season that the Thunder have trailed after the first.

Through the second quarter, Leo Gebauer and Rylan Martin both scored four a piece through five minutes to make it 20-15.

Martin would end the game with seven points and Gebauer six.

From then on the Thunder used a 10-0 run to retake the lead 25-20 with 49.5 second until the half.

Benjamin dropped in a two in the final seconds to cut the deficit to three, 25-22, at the half.

GVC continued to control out of the second half gate, putting together an 8-0 run through 5:03 of third period action to make it 33-22.

“That was odd,” New London head coach Bryant Porter said. “We went on a little bit of a dry spurt there where we couldn't really put the ball in the hole. They turned that into points of their own and it kind of got away from us a little bit.”

After a timeout by the Tigers, a Benjamin three and a pair from the stripe by Porter cut it to six, 33-27.

GVC answered back, going up by 13, 40-27. The Tigers put together an efficient 10 point offensive spurt in the final three minutes of the quarter, but the Thunder matched it, which included a put back at the buzzer to make it 50-37 heading into the fourth.

“We've played some close games throughout the year,” Benjamin said. “We know they are going to go on their own runs. We just have to bring it back and we'll go on our runs. You have to weather theirs and push yours.”

New London never gave up.

GVC kept it around a 10 point margin for much of the final period, but with 1:22 on the clock and down 56-45, Porter sank a three on the right side of the key.

After a missed one and one on the other end, Porter came down court and buried a trey from the NBA line to make it a five point game 56-51 with 55.2 remaining.

“I felt like we had the momentum,” coach Porter said. “I wish I would have started to press them a little earlier. That's a mistake on my part. Going forward, I'm going to use the same game style. We like to pressure.”

“We’re a brotherhood,” Richey said. “We’re a family. We stick together. No matter how much we get down, we’re always going to fight back. We’re not going to get in our own heads. We will keep fighting back.”

Time was not on the Tiger’s side, as the Thunder went 5-6 from the line the rest of the way out.

“We executed everything we had in the game plan,” coach Porter said. “We just couldn’t quite get everything we wanted it. I’m proud of my guys. I felt like they played well.”

“It’s a crazy feeling” (now that the season is over), Blaise Porter said. “I don’t think it’s sunk in yet, but it definitely will. It’s gonna hurt a little bit, but I wouldn’t do it with anybody else but my team. We showed heart and that’s what it's about. We just came up a little bit short.”