Wolverines rally for state berth

ATLANTIC — After last year’s heartbreaking 66-65 loss to East Mills in the substate finals, few gave Nodaway Valley a chance to make it to the state tournament this year.

And yet, when the final horn sounded here Saturday night at the conclusion of the Class 1A Substate 7 final, it was Nodaway Valley that stood victorious with a 50-45 win over Fremont-Mills, earning its sixth trip to state in 11 years.

Fremont-Mills, which led 35-31 entering the fourth quarter, sought its first trip to the state tournament.

“This summer, we didn’t think we had any chance,” Nodaway Valley junior Jackson Lamb said. “We thought we’d come in and not be near as close as last year. I thought last year, that heartbreaking experience in this very gym, that I would never get that chance again. To come back here and actually do it, it’s breathtaking. It’s a new experience and I love it. It was one of my dreams and it came true tonight.”

The win didn’t come easy for the Wolverines, playing in their 10th substate final since 2000 and eighth in the past 10 years.

Fremont-Mills slowed the pace of the game early, taking a 12-9 lead after one quarter. And after falling behind by as much as eight in the second quarter and at the start of the third quarter, the Knights came storming back.

The Knights hammered Nodaway Valley on the offensive boards in the third quarter, outscoring the Wolverines 14-4 in the quarter to take a 35-31 lead entering the fourth quarter.

Fremont-Mills grabbed five offensive rebounds on one possession in the quarter and finished with 16 offensive boards for the game. Spencer Phillips scored six of his eight points in the third quarter for the Knights.

“We felt really confident coming in. It’s just that we weren’t playing our style of ball until that fourth quarter,” Nodaway Valley head coach Darrell Burmeister said.

“I told them I didn’t care if we won or lost, at the end of that third quarter, just play one quarter of Nodaway Valley basketball. They got after it. We rebounded. I thought our offense was better.”

Lamb, who scored a game-high 28 points, netted the first four points of the fourth quarter to tie the game at 35-35 with 7:12 to go.

Two minutes passed with neither team scoring, until junior Nate Venteicher splashed a 3-pointer from the wing with 5:08 left in the game that sent the Nodaway Valley crowd into a frenzy.

Venteicher finished with just three points, but those three points proved to be a momentum changer.

“Thank God it went in,” he said. “I think it really turned the tides when I hit that three.”

"I saw him shoot it and I was like 'go in, go in, go in,'" Lamb said. "Swoosh. Nothing but net. I was like 'thatta boy Nate!' We knew we had to finish it off and we did."

“I kind of got on him a little bit about his focus and everything,” Burmeister said about Venteicher. “I have no idea if that had anything to do with it. But you could see when he caught the ball, I thought the confidence was there and he wanted to take it.”

Fremont-Mills answered with a basket to cut the lead to 38-37, but senior Nathan Andrews scored in the paint and then Tanner Armstrong putback a missed Lamb 3-pointer to build a 42-37 lead.

The closest the Knights could get over the final 1:44 of the game was three points, as Nodaway Valley made enough free throws down the stretch and Fremont-Mills rushed 3-point attempts on its possessions.

“It really helped when the crowd stood up and got into it,” Venteicher said. “That really motivated our team, settled us down. We got into our defense. They were trying to rush their shot. They were speeding it up. That’s what we wanted to do.”

Lamb recorded a double-double for the Wolverines with 28 points and 11 rebounds. David Schweitzer added seven points, while Tanner Armstrong recorded five points. Sam Marnin scored four points, providing quality minutes off the bench.

Andrews and Venteicher were each limited to just three points, but Andrews grabbed nine rebounds.

“You’ve got to do what you’ve got to do,” Andrews said. “You have to be able to play the game you want to play. You have to make sure you make your free throws when you get fouled and you have to keep your cool out there. They gym is loud. It’s nothing like we haven’t seen before, but you have to keep your cool and stay focused.”

Burmeister said his group of hard-working players, which he calls his “blue collar boys” kept believing all season.

“They kept on believing,” he said. “And so I think that was critical, that they came to practice every day and kept on believing. This is a hard-working group. Not a lot of natural scoring, until they developed their skills, which they did.”

Sophomore Sam Phillips led the Knights with 11 points, while Nathen Hardisty scored 10.

The Knights ended their season with a record of 20-6, while Nodaway Valley improved to 19-6. The Wolverines take on top-ranked Gladbrook-Reinbeck (25-0), making its first state tournament appearance, at 10:30 a.m. Monday, March 9 at Wells Fargo Arena in the Class 1A Boys State Basketball Tournament.

FREMONT-MILLS (45) — Sam Phillips 4 2-4 11, Nathen Hardisty 4 0-0 10, Spencer Phillips 4 0-1 8, Brandon Meston 3 0-0 7, Mackenzie Lang 2 0-0 6, Tristan Melgoza 1 0-0 3. Totals — 18 2-5 45. 3-point goals — 7 (Lang 2, Hardisty 2, Meston 1, Melgoza 1, Sam Phillips 1). FG shooting — 18-68 (26.5 percent). Rebounds — 36. Turnovers — 11. Team fouls — 23. Fouled out — Spencer Phillips.

NODAWAY VALLEY (50) — Jackson Lamb 9 7-7 28, David Schweitzer 1 4-5 7, Tanner Armstrong 2 1-2 5, Sam Marnin 1 2-8 4, Nathan Andrews 1 1-4 3, Nate Venteicher 1 0-0 3. Totals — 15 15-26 50. 3-point goals — 5 (Lamb 3, Schweitzer 1, Venteicher 1). FG shooting — 15-47 (31.9 percent). Rebounds — 35 (Lamb 11, Andrews 9, Armstrong 7, Schweitzer 4, Marnin 3). Assists — 9 (Andrews 4, Armstrong 3). Steals — 3 (Schweitzer 1, Venteicher 1, Andrews 1). Blocked shots —5 (Lamb 3, Venteicher 1, Andrews 1). Turnovers — 16. Team fouls — 12. Fouled out — None.

F-M — 12 21 35 45

NV — 9 27 31 50