With a little over three minutes gone in the Class B district semifinal game between Elkhorn and Wahoo, the Antler’s Dan Trouba’s freethrow bounced around and then fell through the net to give Elkhorn an 8 – 6 lead and affirm Coach Mick Anderson’s pregame apprehensions.  The coach had anticipated a stale performance from his Warriors who, due to a bye in the first round, had been forced to wait a couple of extra days before beginning district play.  Coach Anderson was unhappy with his team’s performance:  “Virtually, we looked like we were in La-La-Land.  That’s somewhere between the O and Zone.”

Fortunately, for the Warriors, the time in “La-La-Land” was brief.  A Mike Hancock three and a steal and lay-up by Greg Hain started a Wahoo run that would have the Warriors outscoring the Antlers 24 – 2 over the next six minutes. Hain netted 14 points in the first half while Hancock popped in four three’s.  Wahoo boosted the lead to 43 – 21 at half.  The domination continued through the third and fourth quarters with Travis Toline contributing 11 of his 15 total points.  Ultimately the Warriors put four in double figures with Hancock at 20, Mike Simons at 14, and Hain’s total leading the way at 29.  The win was garnered in typical Wahoo style as the Warriors applied constant defensive pressure and converted on numerous fast break opportunities.  Wahoo accumulated twenty steals for the game and Elkhorn coach Mark Ritchie acknowledged that “the big key to playing Wahoo is being able to handle their pressure.”  Although there were some possessions in which Elkhorn successfully moved the ball against the Wahoo zone, there were many more that resulted in scoring opportunities going the other way.

Unlike most of Wahoo’s blowout wins, the starters played well into the fourth quarter as Coach Anderson was obviously concerned that his players get all the rust off before playing in the district final.  Even after the big 90 – 48 win, Coach Anderson was still expressing his dissatisfaction:  “I wasn’t pleased with the game in some aspects, but what the heck.”  That’s the way it was in “La-La-Land.”