Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

DES MOINES – Solon had a real shot at pulling the upset in its Class 3A state quarterfinal against third-ranked Storm Lake.

In fact, the Spartans had two shots to take down the Tornadoes in regulation.

Solon couldn’t cash in on a pair of opportunities to take the lead in the final 15 seconds of regulation and Storm Lake controlled the overtime period on its way to a 68-60 win over the Spartans in front of a large crowd at Casey’s Center in Des Moines.

“It was a little bit kind of like ‘aw dang it’ at the end of regulation,” Solon junior Grant Gordon said. “We had that rebound and we had another chance at it but we had chance in overtime and we didn’t capitalize.”

Eighth-ranked Solon (23-3) had two looks in the final 15 seconds with the score tied at 56 after an offensive rebound on the final possession but couldn’t break the tie.
Storm Lake (24-2) capitalized on the missed opportunities in regulation and controlled the overtime.

The Tornadoes opened the overtime on an 11-1 run and never trailed while advancing to face second-ranked ADM (23-2) in the 3A semifinals on Wednesday at 7:15 p.m.

“They came out and they were firing, they got a couple of quick buckets and at that point it’s hard, you start to get down on yourself a little bit,” Solon senior Tanner Heims said. “They came out and they were ready right away and we were still a little lackadaisical right away.”

Senior Cameron Boyd had a game-high 21 points and seven rebounds and Jaidyn Coon scored five of his 20 points in overtime and added 12 rebounds as Storm Lake returned to the state semifinals for the first time since 1980.

“It’s awesome just because I am hungry after last year,” Coon said. “We got bounced out in the first round last year so it’s pretty awesome getting that first win under our belt.”

Solon led 26-25 at the half but fell into a five-point hole early in the second half as Storm Lake opened the half on a 6-0 run.

Storm Lake led 37-29 with under four minutes to play in the third quarter but Solon would not go away.

Heims scored in the paint and Gordon hit a 3-pointer to cut the lead to 37-34.

“Our big thing all year has been defense, you have to lock down, you can’t trade buckets,” Heims said. “Trading buckets doesn’t get you anything, we had to get stops and get a bucket and claw our way back into it. You can’t get eight points at once you have to claw your way back in.”

Solon battled all the way back and tied the game at 49-49 on a Maddox Kelley 3-pointer with 3:59 remaining.

The Spartans took a 52-49 lead on a Tate McCollum triple and led 56-54 after a Kade Hoeper basket in the paint.

This time it was Storm Lake that didn’t flinch.
Boyd tied the score with a jumper with 51 seconds remaining.

“We really beefed up our schedule a lot this year, we played a triple overtime game against Omaha Westside, we played really close games against Sioux Falls Christian and (Carroll) Kuemper so we are now used to being in those close games and those tight environments,” Boyd said. “Keeping ourselves composed is something we really stressed tonight and I think we did that very well.”

Solon had two chances in the final 15 seconds but couldn’t get a pair of 3-pointers to fall.

It was all Storm Lake in overtime.

Garbieno Weno opened the scoring 13 seconds into the overtime period and after a Kelley free throw got Solon to within one at 58-57 Storm Lake scored the next nine points.

“They came out with a little more energy than we did and also they played a little better defense and they got to the hoop and drew fouls,” Gordon said. “They did a better job of that.”

Gordon led four Solon players in double figures with 16 points while Heims added 13 points and six rebounds for Solon.

McCollum and Kelley each had 11 points for Solon.

“I think that’s been us the whole year, we’ve been gritty,” Gordon said. “The whole year we’ve been gritty and stayed together and played some good basketball together.”

Solon                         13  13  12  18   4   –  60

Storm Lake                15  10  17  14  12  –  68

Solon (60) – Tate McCollum 3-18 2-2 11, Maddox Kelley 3-8 3-4 11, Grant Gordon 6-10 1-2 16, Kaden Hoeper 3-5 0-0 6, Simon Einwalter 0-6 0-0 0, Owen Bock 1-2 0-0 3, Ethan Ulch 0-4 0 0-2 0, Tanner Heims 5-8 3-5 13, Totals 21-61 9-15 60.

Storm Lake (68) – David William 4-6 1-2 11, Cameron Boyd 8-12 4-4 21, Timothy Yanga 3-6 0-0 7, Garbieno Weno 3-5 3-6 9, Jaidyn Coon 6-16 6-11 20, Trey Boettcher 0-8 0-0 0, Carson Taylor 0-0 0-0 0, Totals 24-53 14-23 68.

3-point field goal – SOL 9-29 (McCollum 3-14, Kelley 2-4, Grant Gordon 3-5, Hoeper 0-2, Einwalter 0-3, Bock 1-1, Ulch 0-1), SL 6-20 (William 2-2, Boyd 1-1, Yanga 1-3, Weno 0-1, Coon 2-5, Boettcher 0-8). Rebounds – SOL 35 (Kelley 8), SL 39 (Coon 12). Assists – SOL 13 (Kelley 5), SL 9 (Boyd 4). Turnovers – SOL 11, SL 12. Total fouls – SOL 17, SL 12. Fouled out – SOL (Gordon). Technical fouls – None.

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