Decorah rolls past Williamsburg for 1st boys’ state basketball tournament win

DES MOINES — It took a long time. Man, did it take a long time.

But Decorah has its first boys’ state basketball tournament win. A large first by a large margin.

The top-ranked and top-seeded Vikings overwhelmed Williamsburg in the second and third quarters and rode to a 66-42 victory in a Class 3A quarterfinal at Wells Fargo Arena.

Decorah (23-2) went 0-fer in its three previous trips to Des Moines, losing first-round games in 1972, 1975 and 2022. That never came close to happening here, as Ben Bockman, who played in that quarterfinal loss two years ago, went off for a game-high 29 points.

The Vikings play a 2 p.m. semifinal Thursday against ninth-ranked Davenport Assumption (17-8).

“This group of guys, we never really take days off,” said Decorah forward Kaiden Quandahl. “It just feels awesome to make history at Decorah.”

“These five seniors who were here a couple of years ago had a bad taste in their mouth, not satisfied,” said Decorah Coach Jonathan Carlson. “Obviously didn’t make it down here last year. But just a proud group that is hungry, right? It’s big to get your first one, but these guys are going to continue to be hungry and humble. And I think that’s the biggest thing. Not be satisfied.“

Williamsburg (16-9) rode Derek Weisskopf to a 14-12 lead after the first quarter.

The 6-foot-4 senior is a University of Iowa football signee (as a linebacker), but his first love and initial hope as a Division I college athlete was as a basketball player. He scored 11 points in the opening frame, including a hard drive to the bucket down the right side of the lane to put the Raiders on top.

But Williamsburg didn’t have a second-quarter field goal, scoring only one point on a Weisskopf free throw with 1:37 left, allowing Decorah to run its way to a 24-15 edge at halftime. It got way worse in the third quarter, as the Vikings outscored their opponent by a 29-5 margin for a 53-20 edge.

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While Decorah was scoring in transition, from beyond the arc, on low-block turnarounds from 6-foot-10 sophomore Cael LaFrentz (son of former MFL MarMac star and NBA player Raef LaFrentz) and just about every way else, Williamsburg couldn’t buy a bucket. The Raiders went 14 minutes and 18 seconds between field goals, allowing Decorah to go on a massive 32-1 run.

“We were playing a little too fast at the beginning of the game,” Bockman said. “I think we just had to relax. We found our groove there in the second quarter and really kind of extended it into the third.”

“We just started running,” said Decorah senior guard Trey McCain. “We started playing our game. We play fast, but we slowed down a little bit and still got on a run. Definitely our defense, we stepped up our defense this game.”

LaFrentz finished with a double-double of 12 points and 13 rebounds for Decorah. Weisskopf had 18 points to end a great prep hoops career that saw him presumably break Williamsburg’s school record for points with just over 1,500.

He was a four-year all-Wamac Conference player, a three-time MVP in the West Division of the Wamac and a two-time all-stater, with another likely all-state honor coming this season.

“He meant everything,” said Williamsburg Coach Brad Knoop. “A great leader. Early on, when he was a freshman and sophomore, he wasn’t really a vocal guy. Even last year, he really wasn’t a vocal guy. Everybody knew he was the best player on our team, even as a freshman. But he’s just the most humble kid you’ll see. Competitive and humble, always rose to the occasion.”

The Raiders were essentially playing with house money as an underdog that was the 3-seed in their substate.

“We had a good season. We can’t complain,” Knoop said. “We had a tough stretch in the middle of the season, lost seven of 13, or whatever it was. Lost three in a week. We just kept staying together and building for the ultimate goal, which was to get here. We wanted to see if we could do some damage, and obviously that didn’t happen.”

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Photos: Decorah vs. Williamsburg in Class 3A boys’ state basketball quarterfinals

Decorah 66, Williamsburg 42

AT WELLS FARGO ARENA

WILLIAMSBURG (42): Kellen Cockrell 2-6 0-1 4, Derek Weisskopf 6-17 4-6 18, Braden Plotz 1-7 0-0 2, Clayten Steckly 0-3 0-0 0, Grant Hocker 3-8 1-2 9, Simeon Armbrecht 0-2 0-0 0, Bryson Wetjen 0-1 0-0 0, Braysen Doerhmann 0-1 0-0 0, Logan Hummer 1-2 0-0 2, Logan Rethwisch 0-2 0-0 0, John Eichhorn 2-2 3-5 7, Grady Wetjen 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 15-51 8-14 42.

DECORAH (66): Ben Bockman 11-17 2-2 29, Cael LaFrentz 5-10 2-2 12, Kaiden Quandahl 2-4 2-4 6, Trey McCain 2-8 0-0 4, Matthew Bockman 1-8 0-0 2, Zachary Driscoll 1-4 1-2 4, Noah Milburn 3-5 0-0 6, Andrew Rhodes 0-1 0-0 0, Gavin Groux 0-1 0-0 0, Carter Dlhy 0-3 0-0 0, Louis Bucksa 1-2 0-0 3, Jackson Pipho 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 26-65 7-10 66.

Halftime - Decorah 24, Williamsburg 15. 3-point goals - Williamsburg 4-19 (Steckly 0-1, Hocker 2-5, Weisskopf 2-7, Cockrell 0-1, Doerhmann 0-1, Hummer 0-1, B. Wetjen 0-1, Rethwisch 0-2), Decorah 7-19 (McCain 0-2, M. Bockman 0-2, B. Bockman 5-9, Pipho 0-1, Driscoll 1-3, Bucksa 1-2). Rebounds - Williamsburg 30 (Cockrell 8), Decorah 52 (LaFrentz 13). Total fouls - Williamsburg 10, Decorah 16. Fouled out - None. Assists - Williamsburg 7 (Steckly, Hocker, Weisskopf, Cockrell, Doehrmann, G. Wetjen, B. Wetjen 1), Decorah 10 (Driscoll 4). Turnovers - Williamsburg 11, Decorah 8.

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