March 29, 2024

Timberwolf boys make first District final

Southwest Valley holds Stanton below 40 for first time this season

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TABOR — More than anything else, the aggressiveness with which Southwest Valley played meant the difference in the Timberwolves’ 60-37 Class 1A District 13 win over Stanton.

It is the first district final for the school since Corning and Villisca joined together.

The Timberwolves advance to Thursday’s District 13 final against Fremont-Mills (18-5) at Shenandoah High School at 7 p.m.

The Knights advanced after defeating Lenox 83-54 in the late game..

The Timberwolves played a better first half than the Vikings, thanks largely to the play of Trenton Drake and Chance Cobb, but allowed Stanton to pull within three in the opening minutes of the third.

Drake finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds with an assortment of putbacks and hard-earned boards.

“We needed to calm down a bit. We played faster than we needed to,” Southwest Valley coach Andrew Focht said.

That was when the persistent and aggressive nature of the Timberwolves completely changed the tone of the game.

Southwest Valley mounted a 17-2 run to go ahead 50-34 early in the fourth quarter.

The run started with a 3-pointer by Scott Palmer to make the score 36-30. It kicked into full gear with a transition trey when Jace Petersen hit a trailing Cobb for a triple beyond the arc.

Wyatt McAlpin scored the next five points, with two buckets in transition, and the ‘Wolves were out to the races.

“We got some turnovers, then we hit a couple of three’s in transition that were huge and that was what changed the game for us,” Focht said.

Cobb facilitated the scoring in a number of ways. Cobb scored 18 points, and assisted on four buckets on a night where the Timberwolves refused to settle for poor shots.

“We did a really good job passing the ball tonight and that helped us out a bunch getting shots and getting looks,” Drake said.

Focht noted that looking for better quality shots was a priority in practice leading up to the game.

The defensive strength displayed by the Timberwolves came from constant harassment of of whoever had the ball, and making Stanton star sophomore Drake Johnson uncomfortable.

Johnson scored 18 points, but never put together any great runs of productivity, and was kept in-check.

McAlpin guarded Johnson for most of the first half, but ran into foul trouble.

“Early, Wyatt was denying Drake Johnson the ball and he did a really good job….Everything he did was contested.”

Grant Maurer had the task for much of the second half.

“Shut down Johnson was our main goal,” Drake said. “Stay on him so he didn’t want to shoot and get a lot of rebounds.”

The all-around defensive play kept the Vikings under 40 for the first time this season. Only once before last week had Stanton been held below 50. Both times the Vikings, who finished 19-4, had won.

“I think we contested a lot of shots which was really good and that physical play, we fought through screens really hard. We were on the floor a lot. I said it was going to come down to lose balls and hustle plays and we came ready to play,” Focht said.

The Timberwolves are feeling it at the right time. They have won five straight games heading into the district final.

Defense will have to lead the way against an athletic Fremont-Mills squad.

”Our defense is really getting ahead, doing better and getting a lot of steals,” Drake said.

Grant Maurer tallied seven of Southwest Valley’s 13 steals Tuesday. The Timberwolves may need even more to advance to their first substate appearance.

STA — Totals — 14 7-13 37 Scoring — Drake Johnson 18, Donnie Weis 9, Conner Hultman 2, Reece Anderson 2, Chris Herbert 2.

SWV — Totals — 24 9-19 60 Scoring — Chance Cobb 7 2-4 18, Trenton Drake 6 2-4 14, Wyatt McAlpin 4 2-6 10, Scott Palmer 3 0-0 7, Grant Maurer 1 3-5 5, Jace Petersen 2 0-0 4, Dustin Lund 1 0-0 2. FG Shooting — 24-51 (47 percent). 3-pt. goals — 3 (Cobb 2, Palmer 1). Rebounds — 37 (Drake 10, McAlpin 9, Maurer 7, Palmer 6). Assists — 13 (Maurer 4, Cobb 4, Palmer 3). Steals — 13 (Maurer 7, McAlpin 2). Blocks — 5 (Maurer 3). Fouls — 18. Fouled out — Drake.

STA (37) 11 12 9 5

SWV (60) 19 9 20 12