Klein shoots the lights out, Williamsburg rolls

CEDAR RAPIDS - Adam Klein shot the lights out Tuesday afternoon. That could have meant literally, too.

It was shortly after the Williamsburg guard swished home an NBA 3-pointer in the final minute of the second quarter that most of the power at Wells Fargo Arena went out. Coincidence?

Klein scored 19 first-half points as Williamsburg eased past Glenwood, 65-40, in a Class 3A state tournament quarterfinal. He was making everything, which not a lot of guys are able to do under the bright lights (pun intended) and big stage here.

'I just think when it's time to play basketball, he's going to go at you a little bit,” said Williamsburg Coach Dave Schlabaugh. 'He's got an extra gear than most kids do. I thought he brought some good toughness to this game.”

'In warmups, I told one of my teammates ‘Man, I'm shooting better than I normally do. Hopefully that'll carry on to the game,'” Klein said.

Boy, did it ever carryover. Klein went off for 29 points, including hitting three of his four attempts from distance.

He even had another made 3 taken away by an illegal-screen foul on one of his teammates. Klein played at Wells Fargo Arena last season with Iowa City West, so this wasn't his first experience at The Well.

He said a practice sesssion last Saturday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena after Iowa's win over Northwestern also helped.

'I think it helped a lot, playing on West's team last year and getting some playing time on this court,” Klein said. 'Also what I think helped was that we went and played at Carver, had a practice there. Just getting used to the background and everything, which is a little different, I think that helped a lot.”

'He was incredible,” said Williamsburg's Derek Greiner. 'I'm glad he came here (as a transfer) because as fun as he is to watch, he's more fun to play with.”

By the way, a blown transformer outside the arena was the real reason the lights went out. There was a delay of about 15 minutes as full power was restored.

It didn't prevent top-seeded Williamsburg (24-1) from taking care of business and completing its first state tournament win. A Klein trey helped the Raiders take command early, 11-3.

Underdog Glenwood (12-13) never got the feeling it had a chance at an upset. The Rams were making their first state tourney appearance since 1952.

'It probably wasn't our best-played game this year,” said Glenwood Coach Curt Schulte said. 'But that's the way the chips fall.”

'I thought we definitely played one of our best games of the year,” Klein said. 'Especially defensively, we didn't quit. We didn't make anything easy for them. Whenever we play really well on defense, that sparks our offense.”

Williamsburg plays LeMars (21-4) in a 3A semifinal Thursday night at 6:35.

'I thought we played great,” said Schlabaugh. 'We talked about how from (the beginning), you've got to come out and get good possessions, you've got to run good offense, you've got to play in a (defensive) stance. I think if you can weather that first quarter that first day at state, it puts you in hopefully a good position to finish it off.”

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