The last run belongs to CP-U, Cooper Grimm in a 55-51 boys hoops win over Decorah

CENTER POINT - This boys basketball game was about as straightforward as you could get in the first half. Tight margins, all that.

But Center Point-Urbana and Decorah played a second half Monday night that swung back and forth, to and fro. There were runs and counter runs, then re-counter runs.

Cooper Grimm personally had the final run in the final couple of minutes which ultimately gave CP-U (no, not a computer) a 55-51 win in a good non-conference game between two good Class 3A teams.

“I mean, that’s every game,” said Grimm, the 6-foot-3 senior wing, who had a game-high 22 points. “You are going to have the ups and downs in every game. Being able to fight through the lows especially, that’s a big win.

“This group especially has a lot of grit, and we are really close together as a group. So having that, then Coach (Philip) Klett is awesome, so is Coach Batch (Chad Batchelor), Coach (Matthew) Ditch, all of them. Just preaching patience, that it will come. Even during that one stretch. I don’t know how long it was, but it felt forever, felt like a long time.”

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Center Point-Urbana (8-3) put together a 17-4 late in the first half and early in the second half to take a 37-25 lead midway through the third quarter. Grimm hit four straight free throws in that stretch, two on a shooting foul, then two more on a technical foul called on a Decorah player after he was called for the shooting foul on Grimm.

But Decorah (6-3) wouldn’t fade away. The Vikings went on a 10-0 run at the end of the third to tie things at 40. CP-U actually took a two-point lead for fourth quarter on a Coltin Hildenbrandt driving two.

And an-one three-point play immediately put Decorah back ahead, and the Vikings built a 47-43 lead about three minutes into the fourth. But back came Center Point-Urbana.

A Kinnick Covington trey made it a one-point game, then Grimm had a steal and dunk, a pull-up jumper and driving hoop with 1:07 left to give CP-U a 52-47 lead.

Decorah got back within 52-51 with 18.2 seconds left, with Center Point-Urbana’s Lucas Lopata then missing two free throws. But the second miss barely grazed the front rim, ricocheting weirdly and causing a jump ball that went CP-U’s way.

“I knew over the course of the game, we had some good looks that weren’t falling,” Grimm said. “I needed to create my own a little bit within the offense. Going iso (isolation) in our offense just doesn’t work as a team. So finding it in the offense is key.”

“It was within the flow,” Klett said. “He was going to be aggressive. He and Cayle (Estling) kind of set the tone for us.”

CP-U played LaFrentz, who came in averaging 28.9 points and 14.5 rebounds per game, very physically down low and thus very effectively. The 6-foot-10 senior, son of longtime NBA player Raef LaFrentz, finished with 21 points but only took nine shots, seeing defensive fronting against him with a double team from behind.

He did make three 3-points in the game, which is an encouraging improvement in his game.

“At times, I thought we played really well,” Klett said. “At times, I thought we got sloppy and didn’t do what we wanted to do against him. We let him catch it, and you’re going to have a hard time playing him from behind.”

Power forward Noah Milburn added 15 points for Decorah, but fouled out with around three minutes left. That was key because the Vikings played just six player in the game.

Also key were 21 turnovers.

“I think one of the biggest things for us is being able to take care of the basketball,” said Decorah Coach Jon Carlson. “You saw Cael score in some different ways tonight. He stepped out and hit some 3s. He’s used to getting his stuff around the basket, but they did a good job of playing him physical. We see that every game. Tonight it was just a matter of them being a little different size than what we’ve been saying.

“We knew we were probably going to have some losses, just with guys coming off football ... So it’s one of those things where it’s going to take some time, and we’re going to have games like this. But we think that’s going to make us better during the postseason. The (state) tournament, that’s obviously what you’re playing for.”

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AT CENTER POINT

DECORAH (51): Noah Milburn 5-13 3-4 15, Cael LaFrentz 5-9 8-9 21, Peyton Webb 1-9 0-2 3, Tanner Caddell 1-3 0-0 3, Bryson Wemark 1-2 0-0 2, Trevor Kuennen 2-2 2-2 7. Totals 15-38 13-17 51.

CENTER POINT-URBANA (55): Kinnick Covington 1-6 1-2 4, Noah Estling 3-6 1-4 8, Cooper Grimm 7-14 6-6 22, Cayle Estling 1-8 0-0 3, Lucas Lopata 1-4 3-6 4, Boden Kane 1-3 0-0 2, Henry Engelbrecht 1-3 0-0 3, Coltin Hildebrandt 1-3 0-0 2, Hayden Covington 1-5 2-4 5. Totals 17-5 13-22 55.

Halftime - Center Point-Urbana 24, Decorah 23. 3-point goals - Decorah 8-20 (Milburn 2-6, LaFrentz 3-3, Webb 1-7. Caddell 1-3, Kuennen 1-1), Center Point-Urbana 8-23 (K. Covington 1-1, N. Estling 1-2, Grimm 2-5, C. Estling 1-2, Lopata 1-4, Kane 0-2, Engelbrecht 1-3, Hildenbrandt 0-1, H. Covington 1-3). Rebounds - Decorah 39 (LaFrentz 15), Center Point-Urbana 26 (C. Estling 8). Total fouls - Decorah 18, Center Point-Urbana 18. Fouled out - Milburn, K. Covington. Turnovers - Decorah 21, Center Point-Urbana 10.

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