Solon socks Central Lee

By Marc Morehouse

The Gazette

DES MOINES - Sock, meet washing machine.

Monday's Class 2A state quarterfinal was a little like that. The top-seeded Solon Spartans played the role of washing machine with its 32 minutes of relentless full-court press and fast-break mentality. It's like a basketball washing machine. It spins you and leaves you wet with sweat.

No. 8 seed Central Lee was the sock.

The Spartans (26-0) forced Central Lee into 23 turnovers and turned a lot of those into easy layups in their 82-44 rout over the Hawks at Wells Fargo Arena.

The Spartans are back in the state semifinals for the second consecutive season. Last year, they lost, 68-60, to Fort Dodge St. Edmond. This time, they'll face No. 4 seed and defending 2A champion Western Christian (25-1) at 2 p.m. Thursday for a spot in the 2A final.

“This is familiar territory for us. We were here a year ago,” Solon Coach Brad Randall said. “We want to get to a little higher level than we were a year ago.”

The Spartans scored their first 11 points off Central Lee turnovers and led 11-0 after Ben Weeks' lay-up from guard Matt Morrison's feed. Until guard Brad Vogel put the Hawks on the board with 4:54 left in the first quarter, Central Lee had six turnovers and one shot attempt.

“They have the athletes to play that way,” Central Lee Coach Clay Vass said. “They're big, they're strong and they're athletic. We try to play that way, but we don't have the athletes they have.”

Case in point is Solon senior Tucker Wentzien.

The 6-foot-7 center led the Spartans with 22 points on 8-of-9 shooting. The future Upper Iowa power forward missed a dunk, slammed one down and also went 2 of 2 from the 3-point arc. He had three steals and two assists.

“We try to get up and stay up, keep running the whole floor and try to tire them out,” Wentzien said. “We've got depth coming off the bench. We're able to dictate the pace.”

And, yes, Wentzien wanted the dunk after missing a dunk.

“On that first one, I just wasn't used to those kinds of rims,” Wentzien said with a laugh. “We play on the tight rims. These loosey-goosey rims, I couldn't really handle.”

Ben Bergman, a 6-5 senior forward, added 15 points on 6 of 7 from the floor. The Spartans hit 33 of 63 (52.4 percent) from the field while holding the Hawks (21-5) to 34 percent (16 of 47).

“We really wanted to get out to a fast start and push the pace,” said Bergman, who had a game-high nine rebounds. “We wanted to get quick shots and put our defense to work. Our defense usually leads to easier offense.”

Early turnovers helped Solon extend its lead to 39-15 on Bergman's three-point play with 2:36 left in the second quarter. But the Hawks clamped down and closed the half on a 7-2 run to pull within shouting distance at halftime, 41-22.

“We lost tempo once this year, against Dyersville Beckman,” said Solon senior guard Matt Morrison, who added 15 points and four assists. “That's what we really focus on. We want to make the tempo ours.”

Yes, it's always better to be the washing machine.