Dubuque Wahlert rallies late past Waverly-Shell Rock, 3-peat hopes still alive

CEDAR RAPIDS — Cordell Pemsl isn't fazed by much. You don't become one of the best players in the state and a University of Iowa signee by being so.

But the Dubuque Wahlert senior post admits he looked up at the scoreboard Monday night at the U.S. Cellular Center and became a little queasy. His team was down three points to Waverly-Shell Rock in a Class 3A substate final and W-SR had the basketball with only two minutes left.

'That was one of the very, very few moments in my high-school career where I was nervous,' Pemsl said. 'We know that we have a target on our back ... That was just really hard to say 'We've got to buckle down here.' But we did it.'

Thanks to their defense. The Golden Eagles forced four crucial turnovers and outscored their opponent, 9-1, in the final two minutes for a 50-45 win.

The chance to three-peat remains alive for Wahlert (19-5), which is a deceiving fifth seed next week at the state tournament. MOC/Floyd Valley (21-3) is the quarterfinal opponent and most definitely an underdog.

'Defense was our struggle throughout the season,' said Pemsl, who finished with 19 points and 12 rebounds in quite a head-to-head matchup with W-SR's Austin Phyfe, a Northern Iowa commit. 'Once you get to the postseason, that's where you've got to play (strong). To give up 21 points in a half to a team like Waverly-Shell Rock, that's pretty impressive.'

Wahlert led most of the game but watched W-SR (18-6) go on a run and take a 40-37 lead on an Andrew Epley and-one transition bucket with 5:35 left. It was still a 44-41 Go-Hawks lead with 2:09 left, but Wahlert slapped on a full-court press that resulted in back-to-back turnovers and four Wahlert free throws, three of which were made for a tie game.

An off-the-ball foul on Waverly then gave Wahlert the ball back, with Sage Maiers making one of two free throws for a 45-44 lead with 1:11 to go. Pemsl then stole an interior pass to Phyfe with 53 second left and made two free throws for a 47-44 Wahlert lead.

He made 10 of 11 foul shots in the game. Phyfe finished with 20 points and 12 rebound, though he missed five of eight free throws, which turned out to be important.

'You get into these postgame games, you know it's going to be a grind,' Wahlert Coach Tom English said. 'Teams are so well scouted ... We knew defense and poise was going to win the game, and we took care of those two things.'

AT U.S. CELLULAR CENTER

DUBUQUE WAHLERT (50): Sage Maiers 0-1 4-8 4, Riley Till 6-8 0-0 12, Cordell Pemsl 4-13 10-11 18, David Wedewer 2-9 3-6 7, Austin Kluck 1-3 3-3 6, David Iwowari 0-2 0-2 0, Josh Schmitt 1-2 0-0 3, John Timmerman 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 14-39 21-31 50.

WAVERLY-SHELL ROCK (45): Andrew Epley 3-12 4-5 10, Austin Phyfe 8-14 3-8 20, Christian Mosley 1-4 2-2 4, John Stensland 0-1 2-2 2, Camry Moore 1-8 3-4 5, Tanner Krueger 0-0 0-0 0, Jacob Bahe 0-1 2-2 2, Luke Velky 0-3 0-0 0, Joshua Buresh 0-0 0-0 0, Jackson Little 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 13-43 16-23 45.

Halftime — Dubuque Wahlert 26, Waverly-Shell Rock 21. 3-point goals — Dubuque Wahlert 1-5 (Wedewer 0-3, Pemsl 0-1, Schmitt 1-1), Waverly-Shell Rock 1-5 (Epley 0-1, Phyfe 1-2, Mosley 0-1, Moore 0-1). Rebounds — Dubuque Wahlert 36 (Pemsl 12), Waverly-Shell Rock 28 (Phyfe 12). Total fouls — Dubuque Wahlert 18, Waverly-Shell Rock 22. Fouled out — Mosley. Turnovers — Dubuque Wahlert 12, Waverly-Shell Rock 11.

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