Washpun lead Wash past Prairie, 61-40

CEDAR RAPIDS - James Moses wanted a message relayed to Troy Washpun.

Washpun is the father of Cedar Rapids Washington senior guard Wes Washpun. Back in the day when "J-Mo" was lighting it up for the Iowa Hawkeyes, he and Troy played a lot of summer basketball together, including in the Prime Time League.

Moses is the first-year head coach at Cedar Rapids Prairie and saw way too much of young Wes in Washington's 61-40 win last night.

"Tell Troy that Wes is better," Moses laughed.

Troy Washpun played college ball at Wyoming, so he was no slouch. His boy is just now starting to get attention from that level.

Wes had a game-high 22 points, seven assists and eight rebounds, helping Washington (2-1) extend a seven-point lead to 20 at half, even though Iowa recruit Josh Oglesby didn't play a second-quarter second because of foul trouble.

Washpun, 6-foot-1, has major college quickness and jumping ability, is to able to drive to the hoop on anyone and able to jump over them for shots. He had a breakaway dunk in the first half where his head appeared to be close to rim level, and later came out of nowhere to swat away what seemed an uncontested Prairie layup.

"Wes Washpun was the best player on the floor tonight," Moses said. "When Josh was frustrated in the first half, Wes showed the leadership that was needed. I'm surprised he hasn't been offered by any major (D-I programs), definitely any mid-majors or (many) low majors."

South Dakota State and North Dakota State are the lone offers to this point, though Wash Coach Brad Metzger said higher-caliber D-I programs are starting to show interest, including Iowa.

"It's been difficult to wait," Washpun said. "But I'm just going to let the chips fall where they may and see what happens."

Oglesby had 16 points, all in the second half as Class 4A fourth-ranked Wash rebounded from a Tuesday night loss at Davenport West. Matt MacDougall had 16 points for Prairie (1-4).

"I thought other guys really stepped up tonight," said Metzger. "Josh was in foul trouble and sat out the majority of the first half, yet we were able to extend the lead. That's a good sign."

Here is the game boxscore and short video interview with Washpun:

AT C.R. WASHINGTON

C.R. PRAIRIE (40): Jerome Frazier 0-3 0-0 0, Matthew Jantzen 1-6 0-0 2, Brandon Lafferty 2-8 0-1 4, Matt MacDougall 6-11 1-2 16, Chaz Boots 3-7 0-0 7, Jacob Aune 0-3 0-0 0, Brooks Kehoe 2-3 0-0 5 Austin Dellamuth 0-1 0-0 0, Blaine Hilgenkamp 0-2 2-4 2, Thomas Eilers 0-3 0-0 0, Preston Bradford 1-1 0-0 2, Garrett Rasmussen 1-2 0-0 2, Carson Goodale 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 16-50 3-9 40.

C.R. WASHINGTON (61): Alex Carr 1-3 0-1 3, Wes Washpun 10-15 2-6 22, Cybryan Moa 0-1 2-2 2, Josh Oglesby 5-12 4-5 16, Sean Bredl 2-5 1-2 5, Heath Clark 1-3 4-4 7, Todd McCauley 0-1 2-2 2, Brock Butterfield 0-0 0-0 0, David Tann 1-3 0-0 2, Paul Nash 1-1 0-0 2, Trent Hoekstra 0-0 0-0 0, Zachary Williams 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-44 15-22 61.

Halftime - Washington 32, Prairie 12. 3-point goals - Prairie 5-22 (Jantzen 0-4, Lafferty 0-3, MacDougall 3-5, Boots 1-3, Aune 0-1, Kehoe 1-2, Hilgenkamp 0-1, Eilers 0-3), Washington 4-13 (Carr 1-2, Washpun 0-3, Moa 0-1, Oglesby 2-5, Clark 1-1, Tann 0-2). Rebounds - Prairie 27 (MacDougall 7), Washington 35 (Washpun 8). Total fouls - Prairie 19, Washington 14. Fouled out - None. Turnovers - Prairie 13, Washington 10.