Springville comes up just short in boys' state basketball tournament loss to Algona Garrigan

DES MOINES — When Angelo Winkel was in the game, Algona Garrigan was the better team. When he wasn't, Springville was the probably the better team.

Winkel played the entire fourth quarter without picking up his fifth foul. Garrigan beat Springville, 55-52, in a down-to-the-wire Class 1A state basketball tournament quarterfinal Monday afternoon at Wells Fargo Arena.

No coincidence there.

'It was a great opportunity for us,' said Springville's Rhenden Wagaman. 'It just didn't happen.'

Winkel is a 6-foot-9 junior who was a cool 7 inches taller than Wagaman, Springville's biggest guy. He finished with 22 points, 14 rebounds and five blocked shots in just 19 minutes, dogged by a plethora of offensive fouls.

With Springville starting to wrest control, up seven late in the third quarter, Garrigan Coach Mark Meister rolled the dice and put his star back in. Garrigan (23-2) eventually forged a tie and went ahead for good, 52-50, with 2:33 left in the game on a Winkel inside bucket.

'Late in the game, I knew our team always has fight in us,' said Winkel, whose club advances to Wednesday afternoon's 1A semifinals against West Fork. 'We've clawed out a lot of big wins this year. Some of our scores might look bad, but that just reflects on how good a team we are and how well we play together. We always seem to persevere and come out in the end.'

Springville, playing at the state tournament for second time, the first since 1975, actually had a chance to take a late lead, but Alex Koppes missed the front end of a one-and-one free throw in a 53-52 game with 17.1 seconds left. The sophomore was terrific, leading his team with 21 points.

Winkel grabbed the errant free throw and was fouled, missed his own one-and-one, but was able to snag that miss. A pair of John Joyce free throws provided the final spread.

After Joyce's makes, Springville passed the ball around in an attempt at the game-tying 3, but Winkel cleanly blocked Bryce Wilson's shot from the wing as the final buzzer sounded.

'We gave ourselves a chance,' said Springville Coach Nick Merritt. 'A lot of different opportunities. They missed some free throws that opened up some doors for us. We took advantage at times, at other times we didn't. That's the way basketball goes sometimes. It goes your way sometimes, and at other times, it doesn't. But I'm happy with the way we played.'

Garrigan outrebounded its much smaller opponent by a 48-26 margin. Winkel's older brother, Cade, also had a double-double of 11 points and 12 rebounds.

The Golden Bears went 13-plus minutes between late in the second quarter and midway through the fourth with just the Winkels scoring.

Springville will definitely miss the do-everything abilities of senior Kyle Koppes, but the other six members of the Orioles' main playing rotation return next season.

'I think it's good motivation for our offseason,' Merritt said. 'It's like 'OK, we're really close. We're right there ... I think we've got a lot of guys, even right now, who are thinking about what they can do to get better.''

'This has been a heck of a ride,' Alex Koppes said.

Algona Garrigan 58, Springville 55

AT DES MOINES

SPRINGVILLE (52): Alex Koppes 7-12 5-6 21, Rhenden Wagaman 3-8 2-2 9, Bryce Wilson 3-13 1-2 8, Luke Menster 4-14 0-1 8, Grant Gloeckner 0-2 0-0 0, Tommy Hagensick 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 19-59 8-11 52.

ALGONA GARRIGAN (55): Cade Winkel 5-14 1-2 11, Andrew Arndorfer 0-4 0-0 0, John Joyce 5-12 2-2 13, Marcus Plathe 1-5 0-0 2, Angelo Winkel 10-14 2-3 22, Cameron Baade 2-6 0-0 6, Kyle Schaaf 0-1 1-2 1. Totals 23-56 6-9 55.

Halftime — Algona Garrigan 25, Springville 22. 3-point goals — Springville 6-19 (A. Koppes 2-4, Wagaman 1-3, Wilson 1-5, Menster 0-1, K. Koppes 2-6), Algona Garrigan 3-14 (Arndorfer 0-4, Joyce 1-4, Baade 2-6). Rebounds — Springville 26 (K. Koppes 7), Algona Garrigan 48 (A. Winkel 14, C. Winkel 12). Total fouls — Springville 15, Algona Garrigan 15. Fouled out — None. Assists — Springville 6 (Menster 5), Algona Garrigan 8 (Arndorfer 4). Turnovers — Springville 11, Algona Garrigan 21.

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