bottle it up
In their first tournament game, the 1995 Warriors had seemed unfocused. Coach Watton had noted, "I could see in warm-ups that we weren't taking things seriously and we lacked mental concentration in the game." In their second game, Wahoo played another team they had already beaten easily. If the Warriors didn't get a game face on and come out with some intensity, it was not hard to imagine a disastrous outcome. Perhaps it was a good thing that the opponent was the other school in town, Bishop Neumann. The intra-city rivalry might be enough to off-set any tendency for complacency on the part of the Warriors.
One of the consequences of Wahoo's move to Class C1 was that it put the Warriors in the same sub-district with Wahoo Neumann. Having two schools in the same small town is bound to create a rivalry, but being in the same class amped up that rivalry. No longer would it be possible for both teams to make the state tournament.* It wasn't just for bragging rights anymore. The Warriors' casual approach to the first round of the tournament would not be repeated.
Any fear of continued shooting woes for the Warriors were quickly put to rest as Wahoo poured in 25 first quarter points, going 9 of 15 from the field. Eric Eddie led the turnaround, hitting his first three shots of the game, all three pointers. The Warriors continued their domination of the Cavaliers in the second period building a 34 – 11 lead and ending the half leading 41 – 22. Wahoo didn't let up in the second half, either. The Warriors forced six third period turnovers and increased the lead to 60 – 32 at the end of three. Unlike the Valley game, the Warriors continued their assault in the final period, eventually building a 35 point lead and finishing with an 82 – 52 win. Coach Watton expressed some relief with the Warrior victory: "I guess I had the feeling we'd put it together tonight, but if we had struggled early with our shooting, who knows what would have happened."
With the win, Wahoo advanced to the district final for the tenth consecutive year. This time they'd have to wait a week to play, but the solid victory over Neumann gave them some momentum they'd been lacking in the last couple of games. Still, the perceived inconsistent effort gave Coach Watton some concern: " … we'll just have to see how the kids prepare for this one." And, obviously, he'd like to have his more focused team take the floor: "I wish I could bottle up what we did tonight and take that with us."
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