Record-setting season ends abruptly for Decorah boys’ basketball

DES MOINES — After seemingly having its treadmill set on a steep incline the entire game, Decorah was about to finally start running on level ground.

The Vikings had battled and battled back to near even in their Class 3A state basketball tournament quarterfinal Tuesday night.

Behind most of the way, it was a one-point game midway through the third quarter. There were two foul shots upcoming to either tie or go ahead.

Both missed.

“Kind of the story of the game,” Coach Jonathan Carlson said, after his team’s 67-59 loss to DeWitt Central at Wells Fargo Arena.

Yep, an atypical, wayward chapter in the story of a special season.

» Photos: Decorah vs. DeWitt Central in Class 3A state quarterfinals

Decorah set a school record with 22 wins, made it to this tournament for the first time since 1977. It took a 21-game win streak into this game.

You can’t take away any of that, despite what happened here.

“Proud of our guys,” Carlson said. “This senior class, can’t say enough good things about them.”

“I don’t think we’re done here,” said Decorah guard Joseph Bockman, one of those seniors. “Our sophomore class is really good, we’ve got a couple of juniors that are really good. We’ll be back, for sure. Hopefully we’ll get a win for the first time in Decorah history.”

Decorah (22-2) went just 11 of 22 from the line and was outrebounded by 11, crucial statistics. The Vikings could never get any consistent offense going.

“We just didn’t come out to play. Our free throws, we didn’t rebound very well,” Bockman said. “We worked hard to get the (deficit) back. We started out slow. Hard to stop the big man down there. It was really frustrating.”

The big man was Central’s Shawn Gilbert. The 6-foot-9, 300-pounder had 16 points and 11 rebounds before injuring his knee in a scramble for a loose ball early in the fourth quarter.

He didn’t play the rest of the game.

“My knee’s kind of sore, but it was great we got the win,” Gilbert said.

Gilbert was paramount in a telltale 11-0 run after those aforementioned missed Decorah free thows. Gibson McEwen led Central (19-6) with 24 points.

The Sabers shot 56 percent from the field and went 28 of 37 from the stripe, as Decorah tried to extend the game with regular fouling in the fourth. Sophomore Trey McCain led the Vikings with 22 points, Bockman added 14 and Noah Storts 11.

“For all of us, it was the first time coming down here. So settling into the environment was definitely different than what we’re used to,” McCain said. “We can definitely use this experience for hopefully future tournaments.”

AT DES MOINES

DEWITT CENTRAL (67): Paul Kuehn 1-1 0-2 3, Gibson McEwen 5-11 13-14 24, Gus Pickup 1-2 4-4 7, Matthew Watters 1-2 3-4 5, Shawn Gilbert 7-13 2-3 16, Carver Krukow 0-0 0-0 0, Carter Drury 0-0 1-4 1, Brady Petersen 0-0 1-2 1, Ryan Watters 3-3 4-4 10. Totals 18-32 28-37 67.

DECORAH (59): Carson Wemark 1-7 2-6 4, Jacob Pipho 1-2 0-0 3, Joseph Bockman 6-14 1-4 14, Trey McCain 7-17 5-6 22, Noah Storts 4-6 3-6 11, Ben Bockman 2-5 0-0 5, Bennett Schutte 0-0 0-0 0, Kasey Krauskopf 0-0 0-0 0, Joseph Hjelle 0-0 0-0 0, Ethan Holthaus 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-51 11-22 59.

Halftime - DeWitt Central 27, Decorah 21. 3-point goals - DeWitt Central 3-5 (Kuehn 1-1, McEwen 1-2, Pickup 1-2), Decorah 6-17 (Pipho 1-2, J. Bockman 13, McCain 3-8, B. Bockman 1-4). Rebounds - DeWitt Central 35 (R. Watters 15), Decorah 24 (Storts 9). Total fouls - DeWitt Central 19, Decorah 28. Fouled out - Pipho, Hjelle. Assists - DeWitt Central 7 (M. Watters 3), Decorah 7 (McCain 4). Turnovers - DeWitt Central 18, Decorah 8.

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