Tigers one win away from state

NEW LONDON — New London is just one win away.

One victory away from reaching the state tournament for the first time since the 2016-17 season.

Just one team stands in the way of that goal.

That team being Marquette Catholic (22-3).

What a run it’s been for the Tigers (18-6) of New London.

After going 15-6 through the regular season, the Tigers have followed up with three straight battles through the Class 1A Substate 4 District 7 bracket.

To open up postseason play, the Tigers handled Southeast Iowa Super Conference foe Danville, 78-49.

In round two, New London went to war with WACO. Coming in, the Warriors were the No. 5 rated team in Class 1A.

Just four points separated the two squads in their regular season matchup and in district play that margin got even smaller as New London won it in the final seconds, 61-60.

To punch their ticket to the substate final, the Tigers were victorious in a hard nosed bout with Winfield-Mt. Union. The Tigers topped the Wolves 58-52.

As for Marquette Catholic, they’ve had a pretty dominant road thus far, winning every game by at least 20 points.

They defeated North Cedar, 76-31, Midland, 67-46 and Prince of Peace, 76-56.

Coming into the contest, Blaise Porter leads New London at 25 points per game, along with 8.4 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 2.1 steals.

Kade Benjamin follows with 19.2 points per game, 8.7 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 3.8 blocks.

Brendan Richey averages 8.9 points per game. Leo Gebauer averages 8.3 points per night and Rylan Martin has an average of 6.3 points per contest.

For Marquette, Spencer Roeder leads with 13.3 points per game and 6.3 rebounds.

Evan Scott averages 12.2 points a game. Kannon Still averages 9.8 points a night. Caden Kettmann (7.9 ppg) and Isaac Brinker (7.3 ppg) round them out.

The two will square off on Saturday night at Solon High School beginning at 7 p.m.