finally
Coach Dave Marron of Grand Island Northwest walked off the Devaney Sports Center court on Friday night and took a deep breath. His Vikings had broken their contest with York wide open in the second half and claimed a decisive 72 - 42 victory, earning a shot at #1 Wahoo in the championship game. “Now,” he said, “we can finally worry about Wahoo.” Just as Wahoo had looked up at Lincoln Pius X the entire ‘88 - ‘89 season, GINW had set their sights on the top rated Warriors during the ‘89 - ‘90 campaign. The season hadn’t begun well for Northwest -- an opening night 18 point loss to Central City kept them out of the initial rankings. A December loss in overtime to Class A Kearney and a January loss to a ranked Minden team didn’t earn the Vikings much respect either. But eventually wins over top ten ranked Lexington and York, and a defeat of Class A Hastings, caught the attention of the pollsters. In mid January, with a 9 - 3 record, Marron’s team finally cracked the ratings, entering at number six. Three wins later, they climbed to third. And when they reached 14 in the win column, they were #2 behind Wahoo. The Vikings had brought a 20 - 3 record into the state tournament and set up the one vs. two matchup in the finals by defeating Mount Michael and York in the first two rounds. Like all coaches, Marron insisted he and his team had kept their focus on their immediate opponents, but allowed that a shot at the Warriors “has come up periodically throughout the year.” Grand Island Northwest had never won a state title -- in many ways, they were like the Wahoo team of 1988, ready to take that next step.
The defending champion Warriors had watched a parade of teams come and go behind them in the rankings -- Lincoln Pius, Nebraska City, Gretna, Ogallala had all taken turns looking like they would be the ones to challenge Wahoo’s supremacy. In truth, none of the other Class B teams really caught Wahoo’s attention. Being on top, Wahoo had a different perspective -- in a sense their number one opponent was themselves, and perhaps history. The 1990 Warriors wanted to equal their 1989 predecessors -- they were playing to defeat each and every opponent to claim a perfect season. The goal was a state championship and it didn’t matter who they had to defeat to get it. When the Wahoo players took the court to play against Grand Island Northwest on that Saturday night, they looked into the stands and saw all kinds of reminders of what they were there to do. The signs waved; “Back to Back to Back”; “63 and Counting”; “Take State -- Again!” This arena was theirs -- “You’ve Entered Warrior Territory.” Northwest was just another opponent. After the Pius game, with 25 wins behind them, Jason Glock expressed some relief that it was finally time to play the big game -- “Now, we can concentrate on the final. That’s what everybody around Wahoo has been doing since we won the title last year.”
Part 6 -- "22 Seconds" |
| "This time the shoe's on the other foot. Last year Lincoln Pius was the favorite, but this year Wahoo is the favorite." -- Jeff Schmahl, KOLN broadcaster |
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| The Grand Island Northwest roster and record as it appeared in the state tournament program. |
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| "I hope we're not playing like we're afraid to lose, that we try to do what we do best. And yet, that's very difficult." -- Coach Anderson |
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| Wahoo fans had been anticipating the championship game for a whole year. |
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| "There are two teams in the field that can derail Wahoo's express -- GINW and Lexington. Northwest has the necessary height with 6'7" Pat Hesselgesser." -- Larry Porter, Omaha World Herald sports writer |
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