Dominated on boards, Washington falls to Waterloo West

CEDAR RAPIDS — One of the net loops came undone right before Tuesday night's tipoff at Cedar Rapids Washington.

Warriors head coach Justin Decker ended up climbing a ladder to fix the thing so play could begin. In hindsight, perhaps he wishes he hadn't done that.

Washington fell back under the .500 mark via a 65-57 loss to Waterloo West. The momentum from an uplifting pair of wins this past weekend has vanished.

'I knew we were going to lose tonight because of the way we played. We didn't show up,' Decker said. 'The frustrating part is the guys haven't had the right approach. We win a couple, and I think they're drinking the Kool-Aid a little bit that we're where we need to be.

'We did not have a good practice yesterday. Until we can do that every day, come right in and play, we'll have nights like this. We just will. To get over that hump, we've got to have our best practice tomorrow. That's got to be our approach.'

Pinpoint rebounds as the reason Washington dropped to 4-5 overall and 2-4 in the Mississippi Valley Conference's Mississippi Division. Not only did West (3-5, 2-4) outboard the Warriors by 15, they snatched 19 offensive rebounds, which led to 24 points.

That's a killer. West's 6-foot-9 center Amel Kuljuhovic was particularly devastating, with 14 points and 15 boards.

'That's been the big thing all year,' said Wash guard Hunter Strait. 'And with us being a transition team, we've got to get those boxouts and those boards off those misses to get out and run.'

'In the games we've lost, that's where it's been,' Decker said. 'We're just getting killed on the glass. We knew they were a great rebounding team, they're averaging, like, 38 rebounds and 13 offensive rebounds a game. They're a real athletic team, too. Our guys need to understand you need to check with the bodies, you can't outjump them ... That was the difference.'

Washington forged a 28-28 tie in the third quarter, only to have West spurt back ahead at quarter's end, 45-33. The Wahawks led by as many as 19, with Wash cutting it to eight in the final couple of minutes, thanks to effective full-court pressure defense.

Laveechie Williams led the Warriors with 17 points and 11 rebounds, though he missed much of the fourth quarter after falling and banging the back of his head on the court. Strait also had 17 points.

'I'd say mostly we need to stick together as a team,' Strait said. 'Sometimes people just try to do it all by themselves, try to be the hero. But we need to stay together as a team, do this as a team. Because when we're playing as a team, we're just as good as any team in the league.'

AT C.R. WASHINGTON

WATERLOO WEST (65): Gabe Pepin 4-10 0-0 11, Demetrius Caddell 7-11 1-4 16, Cardonis Harris-Anderson 1-6 0-2 2, Jacory Spates 3-5 3-6 9, Amel Kuljuhovic 6-9 2-3 14, Trey Burt 2-2 0-0 4, Javan Lanier 2-9 2-2 7, Dayshaun Cooper 1-2 0-0 2, Tyrese Nickelson 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 26-58 8-17 65.

C.R. WASHINGTON (57): Dallas Hobbs 0-3 1-2 1, Laveechie Williams 7-19 3-4 17, Ian Thomas 2-6 2-4 7, Keion Wills 3-7 6-7 13, Hunter Strait 6-14 3-4 17, Maleik Jackson 1-4 0-0 2, Austin Bennett III 0-0 0-0 0, Nolan Potter 0-1 0-0 0, Noah Dawson 0-0 0-0 0, Donovan Beard 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-54 15-21 57.

Halftime — West 28, Washington 22. 3-point goals — West 5-21 (Pepin 3-7, Caddell 1-2, Harris-Anderson 0-1, Spates 0-1, Lanier 1-8, Cooper 0-1, Nickelson 0-1), Washington 4-14 (Thomas 1-2, Wills 1-4, Strait 2-5, Jackson 0-3). Rebounds — West 44 (Kuljuhovic 15), Washington 30 (Williams 11). Total fouls — West 15, Washington 15. Fouled out — None. Turnovers — West 18, Washington 14.

l Comments: (319) 398-8259; jeff.johnson@thegazette.com