Williamsburg’s Klein a hero in return to old school

IOWA CITY – You expected there to be a crowd around Adam Klein.

When you're the star of the game, everyone wants to slap you on the back, shake your hand and offer congratulations. The weird thing here was most of the people surrounding the senior guard postgame Thursday night weren't from Williamsburg.

They were from Iowa City West.

'I knew there would be a lot of my friends and supporters here,” Klein said, after his third-ranked Raiders eased past Clear Creek-Amana, 50-37, in a Class 3A district final. 'I was just glad that this game was so close, and that they could come see me again. Being familiar with this gym helped a lot tonight, I think.”

Klein averaged five points a game last season for the Trojans, who won a third straight 4A state title, but decided to transfer for his final year. He returned to his old school Thursday with quite the bang, a double-double of 19 points and 11 rebounds helping Williamsburg (22-1) move on to a substate final Monday night against Fort Madison (21-2) at Muscatine.

So much for having any jitters coming back.

'It was interesting,” Klein said, as several of his old teammates fun-lovingly pulled out their cell phones to mimic a press conference. 'I love these rims, so that was good.”

'He was really good,” said Williamsburg Coach Dave Schlabaugh. 'I know it was a big night for him coming back here. What I thought was neat was a bunch of his former teammates came out. That's what high school is all about. You develop friendships, and you support each other. I'm proud of Klein. I thought he was really good.”

Williamsburg was really, really good defensively, which allowed it to beat CC-A for the third time this season. The regular-season encounters between the teams were much tighter, decided by three and eight points.

Clear Creek-Amana (16-7) didn't score in double digits in any of the first three quarters. A 17-6 advantage in the third allowed Williamsburg to ease away.

Jake Neubauer had a team-high 13 points, but a lot of those came in the fourth, when the game had already been decided. CC-A shot 33 percent from the field, including 1 of 13 from distance.

'I thought we played really well,” Klein said. 'We played them twice during the season, and the win margin wasn't that big. We definitely stressed the defensive end tonight. Our intensity level was a lot higher, too, because the game meant a lot more.”

'We had a little bit of trouble getting going in the first quarter,” Schlabaugh said. 'But we had a decent second, and I thought we had a really good third quarter. I probably let the air out of it a little too much in the fourth. We could have maybe tried to attack a little bit more, but I felt pretty comfortable with a 15, 16-point lead. Style points this time of year really don't get you much. I just wanted to hang on and get it.”

Zach Schlabaugh, the coach's son, also played well with 10 points and a number of flashy assists. CC-A bull (6-foot-5, 270-some pounds) factored early on the offensive end for his team, but was shut down after the first quarter, finishing with 10 points, two in the second half.

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AT IOWA CITY WEST

CLEAR CREEK-AMANA (37): Nile Rourke 4-7 2-2 10, Jake Neubauer 3-7 6-8 13, Drew Wagner 4-7 2-2 10, Keyan McAreavy 0-0 0-0 0, Cal Miller 1-8 0-0 2, Mitch Stopko 0-1 0-0 0, Kahler Green 0-4 0-0 0, Aaron Akers 0-3 0-0 0, Evan Downes 0-0 0-2 0, Javon Manard 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 13-38 10-12 37.

WILLIAMSBURG (50): Josh Koeppel 3-7 0-0 7, Jackson Subbert 2-3 0-0 4, Brady Stewart 1-6 0-0 2, Adam Klein 6-12 7-7 19, Zach Schlabaugh 4-9 1-3 10, Ben Subbert 1-2 1-2 3, Allyn Francis 0-1 1-2 1, Derek Greiner 1-1 2-2 4, Noah Heitshusen 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-41 12-16 50.

Halftime – Williamsburg 18, Clear Creek-Amana 14. 3-point goals – Clear Creek-Amana 1-13 (Rourke 0-1, Neubauer 1-4, Miller 0-5, Stopko 0-1, Green 0-1, Akers 0-1), Williamsburg 2-7 (Koeppel 1-3, Klein 0-2, Schlabaugh 1-2). Rebounds – Clear Creek-Amana 21 (Wagner 8), Williamsbsurg 28 (Klein 11). Total fouls – Clear Creek-Amana 17, Williamsburg 14. Fouled out – McAreavy. Turnovers – Clear Creek-Amana 12, Williamsburg 10.

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