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| The rosters from the Holiday Tournament program -- click to enlarge |
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| In spite of the wins in the Holiday Tournament, the Warriors actually dropped a spot in the World Herald "Top 10" ranking. |
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The Journey
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happy holidays
Wahoo coaches and players certainly received Christmas cards in 1989 wishing them “Happy Holidays.” It was indeed a Merry Christmas as they shared with family and friends their phenomenal opening run: a perfect 5 - 0 record, dominating scores, a #1 Class B ranking, and then the special star placed on the top of their Christmas tree -- the Omaha World Herald’s ranking of the Warriors as the 6th best in all classes. In 1987, the Warriors had soared into Larry Porter’s Top Ten, only to come crashing down the next week with a loss to Syracuse in the Conference final, the last time the Warriors had suffered a defeat. The potential for another “trap game” loomed as the Wahoo Holiday Tournament of 1989 approached. The field for that tournament appeared to be a challenge: Schuyler was 4 - 2, Wahoo Neumann 3 - 1 and ranked #9 in Class C1, and Raymond Central undefeated (5 - 0) and #9 in Class B. Winning the Holiday Tournament Championship was well down the list of goals for the 1990 Warrior team, but when they took the floor on December 27th, winning that tournament appeared to be one of the toughest challenges the 1990 Warriors would face.
This year, Wahoo would play Wahoo Neumann in the first round, and Wahoo’s crosstown rival had given the 1989 team one of its closest games; keeping it a low scoring contest, the Cavaliers had only lost 41 - 50. And this Cavalier team appeared even stronger. It would be in the Class C1 rankings the entire season, only barely losing out on a trip to the state tournament themselves with a District loss to Yutan. Coach Anderson challenged his team to be ready: “We felt maybe last year we didn’t give it our best shot.” The Warriors were definitely ready -- the drama was taken out of the game early as Wahoo pounded the ball inside to Randy Hoffman and Jason Glock. With 10 from Glock and 9 from Hoffman, Wahoo sprinted to a 24 - 6 lead at the end of the first quarter which was punctuated by a Bernie Inbody three at the buzzer. The Cavaliers never recovered, losing 41 - 72. Neumann coach, Paul Johnson, commented, “The simple fact is they are a better team than we are.” While Coach Anderson was pleased with the win, he wasn’t ready to let his team relax. Noting the evenness of the game the final three quarters, Anderson commented, “I don’t think we were necessarily a fine-tuned machine tonight.”
Raymond Central had prevailed over Schuyler 66 - 64, to keep their record intact and the championship game would feature two undefeated Class B teams. Once again, the chance of this being a close ball game, much less a blemish on the Warrior’s record, was quickly dismissed. In the first quarter, Wahoo’s defense swarmed the Mustangs, creating easy transition baskets -- while Wahoo was 11 - 15, Raymond Central was 1 - 11 in the quarter. But leading 23 - 7, the pace of the game slowed in the second quarter as fouls mounted for both squads (15 for Wahoo and 11 for R. Central). Steve Volin, Troy Johnston, and Jason Glock all went to the Wahoo bench with 3 fouls each. Hitting 13 - 15 freethrows in the second quarter, the Mustangs stayed within striking distance with the score 22 - 36 at half time. But the Warriors cranked up the offense again in the third quarter, going on a 24 - 5 run with Jason Glock hitting 7 of 7 fieldgoals. When Hoffman and Glock picked up their fourth fouls, it once again looked like the Warriors might be slowed. However, others stepped in. Steve Volin scored five in the quarter and Scott Latham came off the bench to score 4 points and block two shots. When the third quarter ended, the scoreboard showed Wahoo in a familiar position, up 21 points, 60 - 39. The Warrior “mop up crew” got their chance in the fourth quarter and boosted the final winning margin. Sophomore Trent Toline led the way with 8 fourth quarter points, while freshman Joel Weyand contributed 5 and sophomore Jeff Simons netted a three. The final score was 87 - 49. Raymond Central coach Dale Rasmussen lamented his team’s inability to continue some of their second quarter success after half time. When it was noted that the Mustangs were closer at halftime than any Wahoo opponent had been, he reflected, “I think that brought out the character of their good players. Glock really took over the second half.”
With the tournament over, Wahoo closed out the 1989 portion of their season with a 7 - 0 record. They had done it in a convincing manner over quality opponents. And maybe they put another ornament on their holiday tree -- the bench players had made a significant contribution. Along with Latham, Mike Dvorak had scored six points and grabbed eight rebounds. Anderson commented, “I thought our kids came off the bench and played real well. We’re pretty confident with our top eight or 10 players. This is one year when foul trouble isn’t going to give you ulcers like some years.” On the other hand, Coach Rasmussen looked at the possibility of facing the Warriors three more times. He noted, “If you learn from this game, it’s going to help us. If we don’t, three more times is going to be a real headache.” Neumann coach, Paul Johnson had no health problems, noting that his team wouldn’t face the Warriors again and so “we’re going to cheer for them the rest of the season.” The coaches who still had to play Wahoo would read the scores from the tournament and probably agree more with Coach Rasmussen’s comments. As for the Warriors, these had truly been “Happy Holidays.”
circles
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| 12/26/09 |
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