uh oh

Normally a team would rejoice if they saw their main challenge to winning a tournament get knocked off by somebody else.  In the case of the 1995 Class C1 districts, the Warriors were anticipating facing Columbus Scotus in the finals, but the #6 Shamrocks were upset in their sub-district final by unranked David City.  For the 1995 Warriors, the chance to face a perceived lesser opponent in the final sent up some flags.  First, Wahoo's recent history against "lesser" opponents had produced some less than stellar efforts.  Secondly, the game would be played in Schuyler, the site of one of those poorer efforts in which Wahoo barely escaped with a victory over Schuyler as they shot only 30 percent from the field.  Adding to Coach Watton's trepidation over facing David City was what he noted later as some lack of focus in practice:  "I guess I was a little concerned at a couple of our practices this week about how much fire we'd have coming into this game."  The 1995 Warriors had been dubbed the "big game Warriors" and a district final should qualify as a "big game."  Still, when the opponent didn't seem to measure up, maybe it wouldn't be approached as a "big game" … uh oh, here we go again.

At the end of the first quarter, the apprehension concerning the Warriors' district performance lingered.  Wahoo led by only one, 7 – 6 midway through the quarter, but then finished with a 12 – 6 lead.  All signs pointed toward a competitive game, but then Wahoo stepped on the gas.  Four three-pointers by Mike Simons in the second period led the way to a 32 – 10 halftime lead.  It was the lowest half time opponent score on the season.  The rout was on.  Coach Watton:  "We wanted to come out and play our best defensive game of the year, and I think we came pretty close to doing that."  The Scouts leading scorer, Jason Leu, had been held to just two points.  On the offensive end, the shooting slump was over – the Warriors were 11 of 18 in the second period, with Simons, Josh Anderson, and Josh Herrmann combining for 26 of Wahoo's points.  The third quarter was even better as Wahoo went 11 of 15 and stretched the lead to 37 points.  Wahoo subbed liberally in the fourth period and walked off with an 82 – 42 win.  The defense forced 15 Scout turnovers and held David City to 15 of 46 fieldgoals.  Jason Leu finished with just two points.  David City coach, Tony Weinandt lamented that "they put pressure on you like no other team."

The win sent Wahoo to the state tournament for the ninth consecutive year.  As Coach Watton turned his attention to claiming another state title, he reflected:  "It was important for us to have a good game because if we had a game where we struggled, we might have questioned ourselves heading into state."  Wahoo's trip to the Class C1 tournament in 1987 had ended in a semi-final loss to eventual champion, Fremont Bergan.   Wahoo would enter the 1995 Class C1 field as the number one seed, with a perfect 25 – 0 record. The stage was set for a triumphal return.