West Delaware celebrates new No. 1 ranking by blasting Dyersville Beckman, 57-37

MANCHESTER — These guys are pooh-poohing it for the most part, and that's OK.

Being No. 1 right now doesn't get you anything. It's just something to reminisce about 20 years down the road when you go to your class reunion.

'That's nothing to us,' West Delaware's John Nagel said, after his Class 3A top-ranked Hawks topped 2A No. 5 Dyersville Beckman, 57-37, Monday night at WD's Seedorff Gymnasium. 'There is so much good basketball going around. Number one, that's not (important) to us.'

The Hawks (17-0) ascended to the top of The Gazette's 3A boys' basketball rankings this week after previous No. 1 Waverly-Shell Rock lost a close game this past weekend to 4A Cedar Falls. WD clinched a share of the Wamac Conference championship with this one and can win it outright Tuesday night if it beats Anamosa.

Thus far, it's been a magical season.

'It's been fun,' said West Delaware's Troy Monaghan. 'And hopefully we get to play 10 more games. That's the goal.'

That would put WD into the state championship game. But first things first, obviously.

By the way, head coach Matt Uthoff played on the last West Delaware team to obtain a No. 1 ranking, that in 2000. The Hawks lost to Davenport Assumption in the 3A title game.

'It's something special, I think,' he said, unafraid to embrace being No. 1. 'I think when we get to sit back and reflect on it, the kids will be proud of it.'

This was a prototypical West Delaware win in that the Hawks were stifling defensively and just plain too big offensively for their opponent. The 6-foot-7, 6-6 tandem of Derek Krogmann and John Nagel combined for 33 points and 22 rebounds.

Nagel, the Iowa State football signee, had a game-high 18 points. Monaghan averages two points a game but really sparked his team in the second quarter off the bench, finishing with a season-high 11.

'Just try and bring energy to the floor,' he said. 'That's about it.'

The teams were tied after a quarter, but West Delaware took a 32-22 halftime lead when guard Kyle Wright pulled up about five feet inside the halfcourt line and swished a 3-pointer at the buzzer. The second half was all Hawks, who held Beckman (14-5) to 15 points and 27 percent shooting from the field overall.

'We're not a great Monday team,' Uthoff said. 'We're not able to practice on Sundays, so we had our walk-through on Saturday. We didn't do anything yesterday. I thought we came out a little sluggish. From an intensity standpoint, I thought we went through the motions a little bit early. But we found our way. We found our way when we shared the ball and decided to get locked in defensively. We're pretty hard to score on.'

Jackson Bennett scored 17 points to lead Beckman, including making four 3-pointers. But no one else scored more than six.

'Thought it was a really good team win,' Nagel said.

AT MANCHESTER

DYERSVILLE BECKMAN (37): Sam Stelken 0-6 0-0 0, Jackson Bennett 6-10 0-0 17, Riley LeGrand 1-12 2-4 5, Brady Arens 2-2 2-4 6, Mitchell Gehling 1-5 2-2 5, Connor McDermott 2-6 0-0 4, Ben Palmer 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 12-44 6-10 37.

WEST DELAWARE (57): John Nagel 9-18 0-1 18, Derek Krogmann 6-11 3-5 15, Kyle Wright 1-4 0-0 3, Tyler Kelley 4-12 0-0 8, Ryan Trainer 0-1 2-2 2, Marshall McCarty 0-1 0-0 0, Troy Monaghan 4-4 3-3 11, Drew Wubbena 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 24-52 8-11 57.

Halftime — West Delaware 32, Beckman 22. 3-point goals — Beckman 7-21 (Stelken 0-3, Bennett 5-8, LeBrand 1-7, Gehling 1-2, McDermott 0-1), West Delaware 1-6 (Wright 1-3, Kelley 0-2, McCarty 0-1). Rebounds — Beckman 22 (LeGrand 6), West Delaware 38 (Krogmann 12). Total fouls — Beckman 13, West Delaware 8. Technical foul — LeGrand. Fouled out — None. Turnovers — Beckman 13, West Delaware 16.

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