A lot of Sellers, even more Sain gives Cedar Rapids Washington a 61-52 win over Iowa City West

CEDAR RAPIDS — There was Scooterman.

That’d be Cedar Rapids Washington head boys’ basketball coach Justin Decker, who tore his Achilles tendon slipping on a wet locker room floor following a win a couple of weeks ago. Decker had surgery to reattach the tendon but hasn’t missed any games and only one practice, getting around school and the court on a little scooter that allows him to stand fully on his right leg and kneel on his left knee, which rests his hurting foot and lower leg.

“It’s an up-and-down thing,” said Decker, whose team beat Iowa City West, 61-52, Tuesday night. “You have a long day in P.E., so today I had to take a little bit of rest last hour. Just lay back.”

Scooterman, err, Decker, did a real nice thing to begin this regular-season home finale. He started five seniors: Omoro Crusoe, Brendin Ferris, Miguel Dando, Derrick Mayes Weather Jr. and Tremeir Gaines.

Crusoe has played a reserve role in every Washington game this season, but the other four guys have played in just five games combined, not scoring a point.

“We’re a family,” said Washington’s Traijan Sain. “Any time we can get those guys in, it’s always fun to have them in. It’s a good time for the whole team.”

“Rewarding to me to start some guys who had never played basketball before this year,” Decker said. “Whether we win or lose, our (substate) is set. Obviously you play to win every game, but I think it was good for our program ... This year, I figured if we did get down, we had a team that would battle back. And that’s exactly what happened.”

Yes, it did. West built a quick 5-0 lead as Washington’s seniors got a couple of trips up and down the court before being replaced.

It was a seven-point West lead at halftime, a one-point edge after three quarters, then Wash took over in the fourth to post a nice win. Sain was brilliant in a 32-point night, scoring in the paint, from mid-range and long range, playing effective defense at the top of Wash’s zone defense with his long wingspan.

He basically did it all, and in front of University of Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery, there to see his freshman son Jack play for West. Sain’s a junior who has a chance to play Division I college ball, so it’s never a bad thing to play great when a D-I coach is in the house.

“I definitely keep that in the back of my mind,” said Sain, whose dad, Bruce, played briefly at Northern Illinois before transferring to Coe College. “But I wouldn’t say it was my main focus. I wanted to come out here and get a win against a top-15 team, establish our position ahead of them.”

Sain and every Washington player autographed team posters for Junior Warriors basketball players postgame.

“Wow. He was all over the place,” Decker said. “That’s the thing. As a coach, I see things he does that other people don’t even see. I don’t know what else to say about the kid. He didn’t play the first minute, then he plays the rest of the game. Diving on the floor, deflections, he’s just all over the place. His length bothers opponents.”

Guard Jesse Sellers also was great for Washington (12-8), scoring 24 points. Point guard Will Hodges added five second-half points, and there is the Warriors total of 61.

Obtained by just three players.

West (14-7) got another big game from big man Pete Moe. The 6-foot-9 senior had 21 points and 13 boards, though Wash was able to hold him to just four points in the second half.

Jacob Koch and Jack McCaffery added 12 points apiece for the Trojans, with Koch hitting four 3-pointers.

“It’s like I’ve said,” Decker said. “We wanted to be playing our best basketball at the end of the year, that was our big goal.”

Washington has won eight of 10 here down the stretch, with one more regular-season game remaining at Waterloo East. It’s a dangerous club, for sure, as the postseason is about to arrive.

AT CEDAR RAPIDS WASHINGTON

IOWA CITY WEST (52): Jack McCaffery 5-10 0-0 12, Kareem Earl 0-4 0-0 0, Pete Moe 8-13 5-5 21, Jacob Koch 4-7 0-0 12, Christian Barnes 2-7 0-0 5, Ben Hoefer 1-1 0-0 2, Brady Simcox 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 20-43 5-5 52.

C.R. WASHINGTON (61): Tremeir Gaines 0-0 0-0 0, Derrick Mayes Weather Jr. 0-1 0-0 0, Brendin Ferris 0-1 0-0 0, Miguel Dando 0-0 0-0 0, Omoro Crusoe 0-0 0-0 0, Jaden Harris 0-5 0-0 0, Bryce Brim 0-2 0-0 0, Traijan Sain 13-19 3-3 32, Jesse Sellers 8-13 6-8 24, Will Hodges 2-2 0-2 5, Stevie Cain 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 23-44 9-13 61.

Halftime - Iowa City West 36, Cedar Rapids Washington 29. 3-point goals - West 7-20 (McCaffery 2-6, Earl 0-2, Koch 4-7, Barnes 1-5), Washington 6-13 (Ferris 0-1, Harris 0-2, Brim 0-1, Sain 3-3, Sellers 2-5, Hodges 1-1). Rebounds - West 26 (Moe 13), Washington 22 (Sain 8). Total fouls - West 12, Washington 6. Fouled out - None. Turnovers - West 12, Washington 4.

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