Boys basketball: Knights overcome slow start against young Ashby team

“We had a meeting at noon today, and I told the guys that we’ve come over here the last 20 years I’ve been coaching and Ashby has always played tough here,” WCA head coach Kraig Hunter said. “If you look at their top four players, they’re really good players. We didn’t think it was going to be easy. Coming over here with the talent they have and the way they play here, we’re happy.”

The Arrows have just the two wins but have played some good teams tough despite their shortcomings. Ashby does not have a senior on its roster. Dakota Ecker, Christian Norby and Scott Johnson are their only three juniors. The Arrows stick with their five starters almost all game, which eventually wore them down against a WCA team that plays eight, nine guys.

“I called all five timeouts and gave them a break when I could give them a break,” Ashby head coach John Kent said. “We get our legs underneath us, we’ll get better as the season goes along. That’s a great basketball team we played there. They’re very, very well coached and they execute things. I’m very happy with the effort we gave tonight. It’s just toward the end of the game, we made some crucial mistakes that we just can’t make.”

The Arrows were within two points after a Johnson jumper near the free throw line with 2:28 left. Ashby fouled Knights’ senior center Logan Paulson for a one-and-one opportunity. Paulson missed, but fellow senior post Dawson Staples got the rebound for WCA. He shot and missed under the basket, and Paulson grabbed another rebound and put it in for a two-possession lead.

“That was kind of the game winner,” Paulson said. “If it wasn’t for Dawson getting that rebound, it could have been a different game, I think.”

The Arrows turned the ball over on their next two possessions as WCA held on for the win.

“It was rough,” Paulson said. “I thought we had a good practice yesterday, but we just didn’t come out with intensity. I think we just got a little over confident. We know Ashby is a good team, but we need to come out harder.”

Paulson had a lot to do with the Knights’ comeback as he scored a game-high 18 points and grabbed seven rebounds. The Arrows used a zone defense to try to limit his touches in the post. Paulson eventually got going after the break to make some key buckets.

“They played a box-and-one a little bit on one of our shooters too,” Hunter said. “We started screening the two inside guys in the zone and got Logan the ball more. He’s able to be effective, and Dawson has had a good year down there too. We’re lucky to have two good post players.” Hunter was calm in talking to his team at the half despite being down 26-20. Paulson said their coach has a lot of trust in them to get the job done. They just had to stick to the game plan.

“We were trying to play eight or nine guys and try to get them tired,” Hunter said. “They started out shooting incredible, and we told the guys that if we get them tired, they can’t keep shooting like that all night.”

Kent knew that too, but that is just where the Arrows are at right now with their program. Ashby did not have enough players to field a junior varsity team a year ago. They do now, but almost every player on that team is an eighth grader.

Kent, who also serves as Ashby’s activities director, is in his first year back coaching after not getting any applicants for the head job after Jeremy Knick stepped away after last season.

Kent has 28 years of coaching experience and loves the ways his guys compete, despite having such a shortage of numbers in the upper grade levels.

“These kids are great kids,” Kent said. “They work hard for me and never miss practice. They want to win, and I’m hoping we can get them to that point.”

The Arrows’ wins are against Frazee (1-8) and Rothsay (3-6). They lost to Battle Lake (7-3) by single digits and gave the Knights everything they could handle. Now the Arrows are searching for ways to finish.

“That’s the next step,” Kent said. “We want to be able to stay in the game against a quality team like that and win the game. I don’t want to lose the game by one or two. I want to win the game, and those boys want to win it more than I do. We’ll work on it.”

The Knights are still working on things too, but Hunter likes the direction they are heading. At 5-4 overall, West Central Area has won three of its last four games with the loss coming against a 7-1 Hancock team.

“I think it’s starting to happen,” Hunter said of getting some consistency. “With the Christmas games, and we played well at Hancock. We’re seeing it in some defensive things. The ball pressure is better, our rebounding has been consistent. I think the one thing that’s really improved since before Christmas is our ball movement. Our posts are starting to recognize those double teams, and we’re starting to knock down shots. Going forward, that’s what we have to continue to do is make all our weapons effective.”

WCA         20 30 - 50

ASHBY     26 17 - 43

TOTALS - WCA - 19-41; Rebounds - 23; Turnovers - 8; Ashby - FG - 17-43; Rebounds - 33; Turnovers - 13

WCA - Logan Paulson - 18 points, 7 rebounds; Brady Sabolik - 8 points, 5 assists; Nathan Kaye - 6 points; Dawson Staples - 6 points, 4 rebounds; Ross Anderson - 4 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals; Jack Van Kempen - 3 points, 2 blocks; Jacob Bright - 3 points; Logan Nadgwick - 2 points, 3 assists

ASHBY SCORING - Jaden Norby - 15; Scott Johnson - 13; Christian Norby - 10; Dakota Ecker - 3; Noah Johnson - 2