Being from the 'lesser' MVC division doesn't phase Cedar Rapids Washington

CEDAR RAPIDS — It's considered the inferior of the two divisions in the Mississippi Valley Conference. The other one has three ranked teams, including number one.

But don't diminish this co-championship for Cedar Rapids Washington's boys' basketball team. It means a ton to the Warriors, as it should.

'To start off the season 1-4, have a couple of losing streaks during the season and still come out and accomplish this, it's big,' said Wash's Maurice Arrington, after his team's 50-47 win Thursday night over Dubuque Senior in the regular-season finale. 'We'll take it.'

The Warriors won six of eight down the stretch to come from way back and tie Dubuque Hempstead for the Mississippi Division crown at 10-6. Hempstead lost Thursday night to top-ranked Iowa City West, which opened the door for Wash.

Keep in mind, this was a program that was 0-22 the season before Coach Adam Sanchez arrived. From winless to conference champion in three years is pretty good.

'We've gone from an 0-21 record to six or seven wins and now this,' Sanchez said. 'We've slowly taken the right steps, guys have continued to battle and work, even when things weren't looking great. The reward for them was tonight, and they got it.'

The thing is Washington (12-9) blew a 20-point lead and lost to Hempstead in January, otherwise the division would be all theirs. But there was no looking back on this night.

'I think we've turned it around pretty well,' said Wash's Jared Printy. 'The crazy part is I think we've left some on the table this year, too. Like the Hempstead game. But at the same time, as frustrating as those were, I think they've made us the team we are right now. We know how to close games now.'

Washington trailed the entire first half and had a hard time defending Senior's 6-foot-10 senior center Luke McDonnell, a Northern Iowa signee. He had 13 first-half points and was a factor defensively, altering interior shots.

But the Warriors put enough things together offensively to go ahead by as many as nine points early in the fourth quarter. Printy was the main cog, scoring 13 of his team-high 19 the final two quarters.

'We knew they were one of the best teams in the state defensively,' he said. 'In order to beat that, you've got to be a little physical. We kind of had a lighter day in practice yesterday to get our bodies ready for it and prepare for it. Our guys did a great job keeping our cool and not letting it get under our skin, the physicality, and just sticking to our game.'

You could accurately say this game seemed out of control at times. You had double technicals and coaches and fans screaming at the referees.

'It was very physical,' said Arrington, who added 10 points. 'They're dirty, they're chippy. But we're not going to back down from that, either. We're going to fight right back, too. That's just how the game was.'

McDonnell finished with 23 points and 10 rebounds for Senior (11-10). Washington has a Class 4A first-round substate bye, then will host either Ottumwa or Burlington in a substate semifinal next Friday.

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AT C.R. WASHINGTON

DUBUQUE SENIOR (47): Dimitri Humpal Griffin 0-1 3-6 3, Jayden Davis 4-11 1-4 9, Luke McDonnell 8-14 7-10 23, Mateja Masic 1-5 0-0 3, Justin Blackman 1-8 0-0 2, Derek Noel 0-4 2-2 2, Nicolas Psihoyos 2-5 0-0 5. Totals 16-48 13-22 47.

C.R. WASHINGTON (50): Keegan Moore 3-3 0-0 7, Maurice Arrington 4-9 2-2 10, Jared Printy 7-15 1-1 19, Steven Kramer 2-6 0-1 6, Drew Hoeger 0-2 0-0 0, Hunter Strait 1-2 0-0 3, Laveechie Williams 1-7 1-2 3, Keion Wills 0-1 0-0 0, Julian Good-Jones 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 18-47 4-6 50.

Halftime — Senior 26, Washington 24. 3-point goals — Senior 2-18 (Davis 0-1, McDonnell 0-1, Masic 1-3, Blackman 0-7, Noel 0-2, Psihoyos 1-4), Washington 8-16 (Moore 1-1, Arrington 0-1, Printy 4-6, Kramer 2-6, Hoeger 0-1, Strait 1-1). Rebounds — Senior 31 (McDonnell 10), Washington 33 (Printy 8). Total fouls — Senior 11, Washington 19. Fouled out — None. Technical fouls — Davis, Moore. Turnovers — Senior 15, Washington 20.

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