WACO run ends 1 game short of state

IOWA CITY - A coach can't ask for more than the ball in their best player's hands with the shot to win the game in the final second.

'Well, I could ask for six fouls for a couple of my players,” Waco coach Paul Kissell said. Two of the Warriors' starting five fouled out in the Iowa High School Athletic Association Substate 4 boys basketball game Saturday at Liberty High School.

WACO's postseason run ended at the hands of Alburnett, 60-54 in overtime, after WACO's Nik Coble missed a shot at the end of regulation.

The Pirates open state play March 4 at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines with an 18-5 record. WACO's season ends at 17-5.

'This is our second overtime at game in a row,' Alburnett coach Jeff Christopherson said. 'I guess we don't want anybody to leave early, I know everybody paid eight dollars for a ticket and we want them to get their money's worth.”

The teams traded baskets to open the game until the Pirates closed the first quarter on a 9-2 run for a 16-11 lead to start the second period.

The Pirates scored first in the second quarter on two free throws by Izic Mackey, who would finish with 17 points. Free throws and fouls were a theme in the stanza as the Pirates were 7 of 7 at the charity stripe and WACO was 2 for 5. Colton Horak picked up his third foul 3 minutes before halftime.

The teams went to the locker room at intermission with the Pirates up 29-20.

The Pirates opened the second half on a 11-3 run, capped by a two and a three from sophomore Hunter Caves, who scored 26 of his 31 points in the fourth quarter and overtime of Alburnett's win over Calamus-Wheatland to advance to Saturday's substate game. Caves would finish with a game-high 23 points.

WACO called timeout with 5 minutes, 20 seconds left in the third quarter, trailing 40-23.

The timeout paid off as they held the Pirates without a point for the rest of the quarter.

'We were switching defenses on them going from a matchup to a man,” Kissell said. 'I think that really bothered them. Our kids were starting to see the pattern in their offense a little better and were able to jump a couple passes. That made a huge difference. Then when we were in transition, if we didn't have a shot, we were patient enough to wait and attack the basket.”

The Warriors closed the quarter on a 13-0 run, then scored the first points of the fourth period on a Colton Horak three-point play, capping his personal run of seven straight points. The senior would finish the game with a team-high 17 points on 8 of 10 field goals. He also had four rebounds, four steals and three assists, but five fouls.

'I consider myself a pass-first point guard but I thought I needed to do whatever I could to create some offense for my team,” Horak said. 'I just tried to do what I could to help get us some points.”

'Colton was able to get some lapups out of that run,” Kissell said. 'High school is about momentum and we had a nice swing of it that went our way.”

The momentum continued in the fourth quarter. After two Alburnett free throws - the Pirates were 18 of 19 in the game to 3 of 8 for WACO - the Warriors went on a 6-2 run with two buckets from Drew Kissell and another from Horak. It gave WACO a 45-44 lead, capping a 22-4 run, prompting an Alburnett timeout with 3:38 remaining in the game.

'They just kept coming and they forced us to make some defensive mistakes,” Christopherson said. 'I knew that they could make a run because they are a good team. I thought the refs let the kids play a little bit more physical. Whether that's a good thing or a bad thing, it is what it is. We just made our free throws.”

Alburnett regained the lead on a 3-point basket at 47-45 from Austin Huber and set up what could have been the turning point for WACO.

Kissell drove the lane and converted the basket but was called for a charge, wiping the score off the board and sending Kissell to the bench with his fifth foul with 2:45 remaining in the game.

The Warriors stepped up their defense as Coble blocked a shot, then Horak got a steal and converted at the other end to tie the game with 1:47 left.

After a Pirate miss, WACO held the ball for more than a minute, but a contested look from Coble was off, sending the game went to overtime.

'We were right there right where we needed to be at the end of it,” Coach Kissell said. 'We got the ball to who we wanted to and we had a chance. It was a great game.”

'I knew I had get a quick shot because there wasn't much time,” Coble said. 'I didn't realize I was doubled. Colton was standing right under the basket. I should have thrown him the ball. That would have been the game.”

'That was something we always run - the high-low look,” Coach Kissell said. 'The only difference is our point guard (Drew Kissell) wasn't in the game. We had opportunities down the stretch to get the win and that is all you can ask for. It was just unfortunate that a couple guys got disqualified.”

Mackey scored first in overtime but Coble tied it. Caves gave Alburnett a 51-49 lead with 1:40 left, then Horak was whistled for his fifth foul with just under a minute remaining and Alburnett converted both free throws.

'Colton had a great game for us,' Kissell said. 'He is a gambler and he runs that risk of picking up fouls, but you take the good and the bad because he makes all of the effort plays and brings a lot of energy for us. It was great that he had one of his better offensive nights on his final senior game.”

Despite the disqualifications and the loss, WACO had its first winning season since the 2009-10 team was 13-11 and its best record since the 2007-08 team was 20-4.

'This was the best run we've ever made in the playoffs in any of my sports in any of my four years,” Horak said. 'They were just on the free-throw line a lot more than we were even before the ones at the end.”

Gabe Reichenbach, who had 12 points including two treys, hit a baseline jumper to get WACO within 53-51.

Four more Alburnett free throws preceded a 3-pointer from Coble that made it a 57-54 deficit. Two more Pirates free throws and a miss by WACO about sealed the Warriors' fate. Alburnett missed its first free throw of the game with 11 seconds on the clock.

'As a coach I'm really proud of the kids,” Kissell said. 'The composure and the confidence helped us make a great run.”

Composure and confidence. Two things that are hard for a high school team to maintain when trailing by 17 points in the third quarter, yet the Warriors' team was able to do that to put an exclamation point on a great year.