While the 1992 Wahoo team did dominate most of its opponents, that’s not to say the Warriors went unchallenged in the regular season. In fact, the Warriors were put to the test in their second game as Logan View came to town with their best team in five years. A tall Logan View lineup presented a challenge as the Raiders started three seniors over 6’3” (Nate Oberg, 6’3”, Chad Schuler, 6’4”, and Andy Oerman, 6’5” and two underclassmen, Brad Ruhe, 6’2” and Eric Dam, 6’4”. Logan View used its size advantage to dominate the boards with a 31 - 22 advantage. Although initially, it appeared that Wahoo would notch another easy victory after jumping off to a 23 - 10 first quarter lead, the Raiders didn’t fold and kept pace, trailing by 12 at half. Then the visitors really slowed the Warriors down, allowing only 8 third quarter points and closing to 39 - 36 late in the third quarter. But Mike Hancock came off the bench to nail a three pointer and Wahoo led 43 - 36 with one quarter to play. Then Wahoo took charge with an 11 point run at the start of the fourth quarter. With Joel Weyand scoring 10 fourth quarter points, Wahoo kept the Raiders at bay and recorded its second win of the young season. Coach Anderson observed, “We found ourselves in a position we haven’t found ourselves in for quite some time. The bright spot is how we responded.” Wahoo had struggled against a taller lineup that had been able to control the boards and for much of the contest, pass the ball over the Warriors’ press. That would be a problem for the Warriors down the line when the stakes were much higher.

neumann

Each year, the Holiday Tournament that alternated between Wahoo High School and Bishop Neumann High School, presented the potential for a showdown with cross town rival, Wahoo Neumann. In December of 1991, the two teams were scheduled to meet in the opening round. The Cavaliers had won the C2 championship the previous March and were in even more of a “rebuilding” mode than the Warriors. But as Coach Anderson pointed out, “In a game like this, records don’t mean much.” Bishop Neumann used its familiarity with Wahoo and employed a deliberate offensive strategy to try and keep the potent Wahoo attack at bay. Wahoo held a 9 point advantage at half time, but the Cavaliers cut the lead to 3 early in the third quarter. Wahoo then put on a 14 - 4 run with Justin Anderson scoring 6 of his game high 23 points and the Warriors regained control of the game. But Neumann wasn’t done. Scoring the last 3 points of the third quarter and the first 4 of the 4th, the host team cut the lead to 49 -44. Wahoo once again responded to the Neumann challenge and behind Trent Toline’s 9 fourth quarter points, pulled away for a 72 - 53 win. Coach Anderson saw the positive in the situation: “I think our guys deserve a lot of credit for showing the determination they did.”