WACO steals the day

BURLINGTON - It happened in the blink of an eye.

After trailing all game and entering the fourth quarter down nine, WACO's boys basketball team stormed all the way back to shock No. 5 New London in an Iowa High School Athletic Association Class 1A District 8 final Thursday, knocking off the top seed, 41-37.

'It's incredible,” WACO leading scorer Nik Coble said after the win. 'These fans traveled an hour to come watch us and we wouldn't be doing them any service if we didn't give them what they wanted. We fed off them and they fed off us.”

The Tigers looked good early. New London led 10-6 after the first quarter and 24-14 at halftime, led by Mason Porter, who attacked the basket for 13 points in the first two quarters.

New London held a comfortable lead throughout the third quarter, but WACO stuck close enough to keep it a game. A 3-pointer from Nik Coble right before the third quarter buzzer cut the Tigers' lead to nine points, at 33-24.

'We were just trying to stay with them,” Warrior coach Paul Kissell said. 'Keep it close so we could make a run.”

And make a run they did.

Coble scored the first four points of the final quarter. Drew Kissell cut the lead to two points on a three-point play, and Colton Horak gave WACO their first lead with a three-point play of his own, sinking the free throw to make it 34-33 Warriors with just over six minutes remaining.

Keontae Luckett finally ended the WACO run with a couple of free throws at the 5 minute, 40 second mark, and there was an over 3-minute offensive drought, but Coble eventually came up clutch again with a go-ahead three-point play with 1:53 remaining.

New London just couldn't get anything going against WACO's matchup zone. A Tiger turnover and foul led to two Coble free throws that put WACO up 39-35 with just under two minutes remaining.

Luckett cut the lead back to two points with a layup on the other end. Kissell missed the front end of a one-and-one with just over 20 seconds remaining, but Luckett was stripped on the other end and the Warriors took the ball again.

Elijah McGohan was fouled on the next WACO possession. McGohan stepped to the line and hit two clutch free throws to give the Warriors a four-point lead, and New London missed a couple of three-pointers in the final seconds before time expired.

'I thought we did all right for three quarters,” New London coach Bryant Porter said after the loss. 'The last four minutes of the game, we didn't execute anything.”

Coach Porter also spoke to New London's senior class, which led the Tigers to the state tournament two years ago and played their last game together Thursday.

'This class has left a legend,” Porter said. 'They started something here. As freshmen, that was my first winning season. They left a real basketball stamp on this school.”

A victorious Coble, who led WACO with 19 points, called the win 'special,” and reflected on just how good of a team the Warriors knocked out of the tournament.

'That's a great team,” he said of New London. 'That team has done so much great stuff. That core of seniors, as sophomores they made it to state. They've worked hard, and we know that because we faced them in tournaments as kids. They've been doing this forever.”

Kissell finished the night with 12 points to give the Warriors another double-digit scorer. Gabe Reichenbach scored five. Horak had three, and McGohan scored two.

Porter had 14 points to lead New London, which ends its season with a 20-2 record. Luckett scored 12. Grant Swason had six. Darius Whaley scored five.

WACO, which has a 17-4 record, moves on to Saturday's substate final against Alburnett (17-5), who outlasted Calamus-Wheatland (19-4) in overtime after staging an 18-point comeback to force OT. That substate final will be Saturday, Feb. 23, at 7 p.m., at Iowa City Liberty.