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| "They can rotate in 8 players and they don't skip a beat." -- Ray Rhodes, Arlington. |
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| Bench Points |
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pts |
gms |
| Toline |
31 |
5 |
| Latham |
30 |
5 |
| Dvorak |
28 |
5 |
| Inbody |
27 |
5 |
| Simons |
18 |
5 |
| Weyand |
10 |
5 |
| Anderson |
8 |
4 |
| R. Glock |
5 |
5 |
| Herrmann |
2 |
2 |
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| The bench got a lot of playing time in the first five games. Inbody had actually started the David City game, but came off the bench the rest of the season. Latham had the best single game -- 15 against Arlington. Toline scored 10 against Arlington and Bennington. Dvorak had 10 against Arlington. |
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| “With our bench we think we can wear people down. We hope our depth will be a factor as the season goes along.” -- Coach Anderson |
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| Trent Toline scores against Logan View -- Toline was the leading scorer off the bench for the first five games. |
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| "We played a real good basketball team tonight." -- Jim Kane, Mt. Michael |
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| "Year in and year out, our schedule has been pretty competitive for us. We just happen right ow to have a ball club that can lay with a lot of teams throughout the state." -- Coach Anderson |
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| When asked how good Wahoo was after losing to the Warriors, Mt. Michael's Jim Kane had responded that one thing might hold them back -- a weak schedule. |
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The Journey
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| business as usual |
Business As Usual Video
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The Nebraska high school basketball season begins the first weekend of December -- after three weeks of practice the teams experience a flurry of games and then there is the break for the holidays. Wahoo began its 1990 journey on December 1, 1989. When Christmas, 1989 came around, the Wahoo team had established itself as “even better” than its predecessors. In both 1987 and 1988, the Warriors began with blowout victories over David City, Logan View, Bennington and Arlington. In 1987, the combined score was Wahoo 310, opponents 132. In 1988, the Warriors outscored those same opponents 353 - 165. In 1989, Wahoo’s offense put up 364 points in the first two weeks while the four opponents combined for 146. Few would have thought so at the time, but David City actually put up the best fight, losing by only 24. Coach Anderson was “not pleased with the performance.” But he added that “you can’t look past the fact that we won the game.” With a 47 - 25 lead at the end of the third quarter, the Wahoo starters actually got some fourth quarter playing time. In the next three games the fourth quarter would belong to the reserves. Against Logan View, the Warriors pushed the scoreboard over 100 with the six “bottom” players (Joel Weyand, Justin Anderson, Jeff Simons, Ryan Glock, Trent Toline, and Jeremy Herrmann) playing the entire fourth quarter. Against Bennington, the Warriors set a new Wahoo scoring record as they recorded 105, again with subs (Joel Weyand, Jeff Simons, Ryan Glock, Scott Latham, and Trent Toline) playing the entire fourth quarter. The offense “sputtered” in a 93 -32 win over Arlington with six players finishing the fourth quarter (add Mike Dvorak to the five from the Bennington game). The defense actually recorded a shutout against the Eagles in the third quarter. In the midst of the devastation, opposing coaches sought some silver lining. Logan View coach Gary Samuelson noted that it wasn't as bad as 1988 -- “We only had 7 at half time (in ‘88).” Arlington coach Ray Rhodes told his team, “this week it’s the best team you’re going to face.”
As in the two previous years, Wahoo entered a pre-holiday showdown with a respected Elkhorn Mount Michael team undefeated at 4 - 0. Coach Anderson expressed that this would be a true test of the Warriors as Jim Kane’s Knights were “a traditional powerhouse” and “won’t be real intimidated by our winning streak.” Mount Michael brought a 3 - 3 record into the contest and were listed as a rankings “contender,” but were without junior starter John Harris who averaged 17 points per game. Perhaps believing Mount Michael was too familiar with the 1-3-1, the Warriors actually opened the game in a 2-1- 2 zone, but after an early basket by the Knights, switched to the 1-3-1 and never looked back. The 1-3-1 held Knight shooters to a one of twelve performance in the first quarter and Wahoo had a 17 - 3 lead. By half time the lead was 34 - 13. To erase any doubt as to the outcome, the Warriors ran off 16 unanswered points at the start of the third quarter. Wahoo’s inside duo of Randy Hoffman (22) and Jason Glock (25) dominated the Knights. Three times in the third quarter, the Wahoo post players worked the high - low pass (Glock to Hoffman) for easy baskets. And when the Warriors missed shots, they got second and third chances, out rebounding the Knights 44 - 20. The Wahoo starters actually continued into the fourth quarter and although all 14 players suited for the game did play, none outside of the “top eight” scored.
It was inevitable that the 1990 Warriors would be compared to their championship predecessors no matter how hard Coach Anderson tried to discourage it: “We just emphasize to the kids that last year was last year and the year before was the year before. We have to go out and establish our own identity. We can’t live on past successes. This is a whole different ball club.” But as the first two championship teams had done, Wahoo had passed its first test, and this time the Warriors had “aced” it. The 1989 67 - 36 Wahoo victory over Mount Michael was much more dominating than the 53 - 43 win in ‘87 or the 63 - 50 win the previous year.
The journey was off to a good start as the first three weeks of December had been “business as usual” for the Warriors. After a little time off for Christmas, Wahoo would face another test as the annual holiday tournament featured three other quality teams: Schuyler, Raymond Central and Wahoo Neumann.
happy holidays |
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LOGAN VIEW: Ryan Eddie hits a 3 at the buzzer; Jason Glock gets a dunk on a feed from Eddie; Troy Johnston gets the ball out on the break to Glock who passes to Randy Hoffman for the score; Joel Weyand hits Jeff Simons on the give and go for two; Trent Toline scores in the low post on the assist from Weyand; Weyand scores on an assist from Ryan Glock; Justin Anderson hits a 3 at the buzzer for a new school record (104).
ARLINGTON: Bernie Inbody gets the ball to Hoffman on the break for an easy basket; Eddie gets the assist to Scott Latham; Latham with the steal to Eddie to Mike Dvorak for the layup.
MOUNT MICHAEL: Glock and Hoffman battle on the boards -- Hoffman gets the score; Glock scores on the lob from Eddie; Steve Volin with the nice assist to Glock.
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| First Five Games |
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Opp. |
Wahoo |
Margin |
| 1988 |
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| David City |
31 |
60 |
29 |
| Logan View |
21 |
87 |
66 |
| Bennington |
40 |
81 |
41 |
| Arlington |
40 |
82 |
42 |
| Elkhorn Mt. Michael |
43 |
53 |
10 |
| Total |
175
|
363
|
188
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Average Margin
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37.6
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| 1989 |
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| David City |
34 |
95 |
61 |
| Logan View |
29 |
80 |
51 |
| Bennington |
52 |
96 |
44 |
| Arlington |
50 |
82 |
32 |
| Elkhorn Mt. Michael |
50 |
63 |
13 |
| Total |
215 |
416 |
201 |
| Average Margin |
40.2
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| 1990 |
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| David City |
38 |
62 |
24 |
| Logan View |
52 |
104 |
52 |
| Bennington |
24 |
105 |
81 |
| Arlington |
32 |
93 |
61 |
| Elkhorn Mt. Michael |
36 |
67 |
31 |
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Total
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182 |
431 |
249 |
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Average Margin
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49.8
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| Each of Wahoo's first three championship seasons had been well begun. The December of 1989 produced an average winning margin of nearly 50 points -- the best to date. |
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| "We couldn't stop them." -- Gary Samuelson, Logan View |
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| Jason Glock scores against Logan View, Randy Hoffman against Arlington. In spite of playing limited quarters, Glock was averaging 25 points and Hoffman 18 after the first five games. |
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| 12/26/09 |
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