In the contest with Wahoo two weeks earlier, Syracuse coach, Leon Bose, had expressed confidence in his team even though they had lost. That confidence was not misplaced. His team had given the Warriors their toughest challenge on their home court. They had been within reach of victory even though they had an uncharacteristically poor game from the freethrow line and had given away points via the coaches’ technical fouls. And Bose felt his team was more “battle tested” having faced the likes of Crete, Lincoln Pius X, and Waverly. The Rockets had showed in the Friday night semifinal that they could win the close ones, having dispatched Raymond Central in overtime.
Wahoo was also confident. They were being touted as one of the lower class teams that could compete in Class A. They had the highest average winning margin in Class B. And the team that had taken Syracuse to overtime the night before, they had dispatched easily the previous week. The question was, were the Warriors over confident?
Coaches always talk of playing the game at their tempo -- the style that gives their team the best chance of success. Of course, knowing what that style is and getting the game to conform to that style are different things. In this game, Syracuse was able to get the game into a more deliberate, half court style, rather than the up tempo style Wahoo enjoyed. An average possession by the Rockets would involve at least 10 passes. Then, when they did score, they successfully used a full court press to both slow down the Wahoo attack and on occasion to lure the Warriors into a hurried missed shot that returned the ball to a Syracuse possession which would once more chew up clock time. It wasn’t a delay game. It was just a strategy based on optimum patience. And it worked.
With less than two minutes left in the game, the score was tied at 42 when Steve Malousek sank a freethrow to put Wahoo ahead by one. But Syracuse went 5 for 7 from the freethrow line down the stretch, including two by Marty Bundy with 11 seconds left that gave the Rockets a 48 - 45 lead. Kevin Jeppson got off the only 3 point attempt of the game for Wahoo at the buzzer, but it missed and Syracuse had its upset.
In the somber Wahoo locker room following the game, Coach Anderson began taking a close look at his team. One conclusion was that the Warriors needed more production out of their guards. At the beginning of the season, the coach had cited his guards as “some of the best in the area.” But the Wahoo attack, especially the half court game, had become increasingly dependent on the inside players. And while Steve Carmer and Dan Bartek had proven to be formidable weapons, it became obvious during this contest that the perimeter players were hesitant to shoot and frequently passed up open opportunities while looking for the passing angles inside. While Steve Malousek produced 11 points, most were from penetrating moves. The other guards (Jeppson, Glock, and Liliedahl) only scored 4 fieldgoals on 10 attempts.
Another conclusion was that the Warriors were less prepared to play the close games. Both Coach Bose and Coach Anderson agreed that Syracuse’s edge in experiencing those games was a plus. A cursory glance at the remaining Wahoo schedule didn’t appear to give the Warriors too many such opponents.
The three big challenges the team faced as the season began were taking a toll. The coaches had been able to blend in the new personnel with the three returning starters. Obviously, Malousek and Bartek were fitting in well and the team had certainly demonstrated an ability to play together at a high level. But in preseason interviews, Coach Anderson had mentioned the productivity needed from the bench. In the Syracuse game, there was none. The three point goal was certainly not a big weapon for the Warriors, with virtually no attempts in the game. And the lack of tough competition would certainly be just as much a factor when Wahoo entered Class B District play as it was in the Syracuse contest.
So the Wahoo machine had crashed. Suddenly, they were just another above average Class B team. They would no longer be honored with the top spot in Class B, and certainly wouldn’t be courted as the small school hope against the big schools of Class A. But all this did not mean the season was over -- far from it. Coach Anderson felt that the team could learn from the experience and adjustments could be made. Anderson commented, “we’ll be back. We have too good a team to let a loss bother us.” Interestingly enough, it would be the last time for a long time that the coach would have to worry about a loss bothering one of his teams. |
| "In a nutshell, they dictated the tempo with their patient half-court offense and their press." -- Coach Anderson |
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| "Those big games help you, there's no doubt about it." -- Leon Bose, Syracuse Head Coach |
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| The loss to Syracuse dropped Wahoo to #3 in the Class B rankings. The Warriors had no Class B or C1 rated teams remaining on their regular season schedule. Waverly (#10) would be in the District Tournament. |
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| View the details of the Capitol Conference Championship game with Syracuse. |
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