3/14/1998 vs. Milford ... NONCONFERENCE / NEUTRAL / STATE TOURNAMENT / Finals

Season Game #: 26 / Current Record: 23 - 3

WAHOO: 16 ... 15 ... 12 ... 14 .... 57
Milford: 4 ... 14 ... 19 ... 6 .. .... 43

Wahoo claimed its eighth state championship in eleven years by downing Milford 57 - 43. It was a hard fought battle. Wahoo had been ahead by as much as 18 points when Milford’s Chad Geiger connected on a three-pointer and then nailed two free throws to come within two with 3:40 to go in the game. Geiger connected on 5 of 15 three’s for the game and set a new state record for three’s in the tournament (17). Ryan Gerdts, Wahoo’s leading scorer, responded for the Warriors, connecting on a three and then after a Milford miss, made two free throws to push Wahoo’s lead to 52 - 45. Wahoo switched to a box-and-one defense to stop Geiger and it worked. The Eagles didn’t score the rest of the game and Wahoo sank free throws to close out the win. It appeared that Wahoo might blow the Eagles out when they jumped to a 16 - 4 lead as Gerdts connected on 6 of 7 field goals on the way to his career record 33 points. But the Eagles connected on the first five shots of the second quarter to cut the lead to 23 - 16. Wahoo then outscored Milford 8 - 2 to finish the quarter and take a 31 - 18 lead into half time. Wahoo nearly put the game away in the third period as the Warriors built a 40 - 22 lead half way through the period. But the Eagles came roaring back, outscoring Wahoo 15 - 3 to end the quarter with Wahoo’s lead cut to six. Milford finished their state runner-up season with a 22 - 3 record. Wahoo’s title came with a 23 - 3 record.

Noteworthy:
Leading Scorer: Ryan Gerdts 33 pts.; Rebounds -- Ryan Gerdts 12 ; Steals-- 3 Alex Shada

Wahoo
freethrows: 15 / 24 63 % ; fieldgoals: 21 / 35 60 % ; three point: 0 / 8 0 %

Milford
freethrows: 5 / 11 45 % ; fieldgoals: 17 / 54 31 %; three point: 6 / 32 19 %