Waukee Northwest boys basketball advances to substate final with 94-67 win over Lincoln
WAUKEE – Des Moines Lincoln boys basketball edged past Marshalltown in the first round of substate competition, but Waukee Northwest was too much to handle and the Wolves’ 94-67 win ended the Railsplitters’ season Friday night.
“It was huge, especially because (Lincoln’s) been playing really good basketball,” said Northwest coach Brett Watson. “They’re really well-coached. But this was kind of special because it’s the last home game for our seniors, we’re very senior-led and they did a really good job of setting the tone early.”
The Wolves (20-2) took some time to settle into a rhythm against Lincoln (11-13), which jumped out to an early lead thanks to some solid scoring from Ja’Vion Bell and Trovary Cavil. But Northwest founds its footing and took a 20-14 lead at the end of the first frame.
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It was all Northwest from then on out.
Four of the Wolves starters shot 50% or better from the field to give Northwest a double-digit lead for most of the game. The home team held a 30-point lead at the end of the third quarter before winning by 27.
Pryce Sandfort led the way with 36 points and 14 rebounds. Cade Kelderman was the next-highest Wolves’ scorer with 19 points.
Cavil scored a team-high 23 points for Lincoln, and Bell added 16 before both teams emptied their benches.
“Now we have a target of how good we need to be next year,” said Lincoln coach Justin Einerson. “There are positives to playing games like this against teams like this. A game like this, it doesn’t sit well with them. They think we could have done a little better. Well, that can be motivation for them.”
Wolves work around Lincoln’s defense
Despite going down early, Northwest wasted no time adjusting to the Railsplitters’ strategy.
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“We figured out that when me and Cade drove, they were doubling every time,” Sandfort said. “So, we decided to cut the guy along the baseline...We made that adjustment and got a lot of open looks off of that.”
That’s an advantage that the Wolves have: Northwest has more than just one or two sharpshooters. Henry Manning and Grant Tigges both contributed double-digit performances; Manning shot 83.3% and Tigges went 71.4% from the field.
On top of Northwest’s stellar offense, the defense took advantage of two weaknesses in Lincoln’s game.
The Railsplitters rarely went after offensive rebounds – Lincoln was at a slight height disadvantage against the Wolves. This put the ball back in Northwest's hands, and the Wolves did a solid job of capitalizing by adding second-chance points off their own offensive boards.
Lincoln also struggled with ball control. Northwest stole the ball 12 times, and several of those were off errant passes by the Railsplitters.
With Northwest exploiting both of those recurring errors – and with a 20-plus point lead built – a comeback was not in the cards for Lincoln.
The Wolves will take on Des Moines Roosevelt (14-9) on Tuesday night for a spot in the state tournament.
Lincoln’s bright spots dimmed by fourth-quarter kick out of the student section
Cavil may have been the leading scorer, but Bell stole the show. He managed 16 points – the fourth most between the two teams – while going up against Sandfort, a taller and older Division I signee.
“He missed the first six games of the year,” Einerson said. “I just felt like he didn’t have the offensive numbers that he’s had in the past. So, it’s nice to see him end the season that way because now he can gain some confidence.”
But things turned sour for Lincoln early in the fourth quarter.
With 7:25 on the clock and play stopped for a pair of free throws, the referees kicked out the entire Railsplitters’ student section. Officials told the Des Moines Register postgame that it was the result of “consistent swearing” and that they had asked administrators to stop the student section from using profanity “three to four times.”
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Einerson remarked that he thought his team bounced back well from the commotion in the stands, but that it was a strange situation he hopes to never encounter again.
Alyssa Hertel is the college sports recruiting reporter for the Des Moines Register. Contact Alyssa at ahertel@dmreg.com or on Twitter @AlyssaHertel.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Pryce Sandfort scores 36 points to lead Waukee Northwest past Lincoln
