Missed opportunities
By CHAD DRURY
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DES MOINES — In the realm of the state basketball tournament, missed opportunities are the kiss of death.
With plenty of chances to get back in the game against George-Little Rock, the Notre Dame High School boys basketball team couldn’t deliver.
George-Little Rock turned the ball over five straight possessions in the fourth quarter, but the Nikes managed just three points. Missed opportunities, coupled with 31 percent shooting, added up to a 46-34 Class 1A state quarterfinal loss at Wells Fargo Arena.
The Nikes (21-6), who had come through in nearly every critical situation this season to reach the tournament for the time in 27 years, gave no impression of rallying in the contest, even though a win was still within reach.
Notre Dame’s point total was 33 points below its season average and was a season-low by far; the Nikes hadn’t scored fewer than 51 in any game.
“We just didn’t make enough shots,” said Notre Dame coach Ryan Rump, who was making his first appearance in the tournament. “George-Little Rock had one of the better defenses we’ve seen, and we’ve played some good competition. This loss will hurt now and tomorrow, but in the big picture, this isn’t disappointing.”
George-Little Rock (20-6) used an aggressive defense to frustrate the Nikes’ potent perimeter shooters; the team was just 1-of-16 from 3-point range. Even Nathan Giannettino, Notre Dame’s 6-foot-4 center, had trouble finding any offensive rhythm. Giannettino finished with nine points, seven below his season average.
“We knew they had two good players, and we took one of them completely out of the game,” said G-LR coach Ben Gerleman, speaking of Notre Dame guard Chris Kirk, who was held scoreless. “We came out and played hard. We got a little hesitant with a nine-point lead. We needed to play for the win.”
The Mustangs led 37-31 with 5 1/2 minutes left in the game, but the Nikes couldn’t shake their own mistakes. Notre Dame, which ran offense until it got a good shot against Preston in the substate game, had good looks that simply didn’t fall against the Mustangs. They made just three shots in the final quarter, eventually cutting the deficit to five, but George-Little Rock sealed the win at the free-throw line.
The Nikes had their chances, but never took advantage.
“We didn’t execute our offense in the fourth quarter, and we gave them a couple baskets off turnovers,” Giannettino said. “We had some bonehead turnovers that led to steals. We gave up a lot of easy baskets.”
Tyler Starr won his battle with Giannettino, scoring 13 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Mack Vande Kamp scored a game-high 14 points for the Mustangs.
“Coach didn’t really talk about 2006. He wanted us to come down and win in 2008,” Starr said of the team’s last state championship. “But we have to be strong the whole way. We can’t turn it over against teams that can take advantage of it.”
The teams traded leads for much of the first quarter, with Tyler Hackenmiller’s layup with 40 seconds left giving the Nikes a 10-9 advantage.
A sluggish second quarter put the Nikes in a hole the rest of the game. Notre Dame went without a basket for nearly six minutes, as Jarren Dirth hit a jump shot from the paint to make it 19-14 with 2:21 left in the half. Starr scored on a putback to give the Mustangs a seven-point lead, but George-Little Rock turned the ball over trying to eat up the final 1 1/2 minutes. Giannettino hit a pair of free throws to make it 21-16 at halftime.
The opening minutes of the second half were critical. The Nikes received a Giannettino jumper, and a steal and layup from Andrew Schilling nine seconds apart to make it a 21-20 game, which would be the closest the Nikes would get. A late run, capped off by a tip-in by a Starr, made it 36-27 going into the fourth quarter.
“We played well in the third quarter and we were still in the game,” Rump said. “Open looks were few and far between for us. Our defense wasn’t as good as it had been, even though we forced 20 turnovers, but it’s hard to win a game scoring 34 points.”
The Siouxland Conference showed how tough a league it is. Boyden-Hull, the eighth-seed in the tournament, upset No. 1 and undefeated SCMT 43-40 in the first semifinal. Now, two of the schools will face off Thursday for a berth in the state championship game.
“It’s one of the best conferences in the state,” Starr said of the far northwest Iowa conference. “The defense in the conference is intense. That’s how we win our games.”
The Nikes only have good memories of the season. Still, losing a game that was within reach will be unsettling for a while.
“It’s disappointing to get knocked out in the first round,” said Giannettino, who, along with A.J. Bryant, Dirth and Tony Bonar, was one of four seniors on the team. “But getting here is a good thing.”
GEORGE-LITTLE ROCK (46)
Mack Vande Kamp 3-10 6-8 14, Alex Hopp 2-3 0-0 5, Tyler Starr 6-9 1-4 10, Trev Fiedler 4-5 0-0 8, Wes Peters 0-0 2-4 2, Lucas Eben 0-0 0-0 0, Zach Dieken 0-0 0-0 0, Jason Rypkema 0-0 0-0 0, Andrew Eben 0-0 0-0 0, Ethan Dirks 2-2 0-0 4, Joel Tiedeman 0-2 0-0 0, Taylor Timmerman 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 17-31 9-16 46.
NOTRE DAME (34)
Chris Kirk 0-5 0-0 0, Nathan Giannettino 3-9 3-4 9, Blake Riffel 1-1 4-4 6, Jarren Dirth 3-9 0-1 7, Andrew Schilling 2-4 0-2 4, A.J. Bryant 0-2 0-0 0, Kevin Moehn 0-0 0-0 0, Luke Schneider 1-5 0-0 2, Ryan Kelley 1-1 0-0 2, Tyler Hackenmiller 2-5 0-0 4, Kameron Gray 0-1 0-0 0, C.J. Wilson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 13-42 7-11 34.
Score by quarters
G-LR 9 12 15 10 – 46
Notre Dame 10 6 11 7 – 34
Fouls: George-Little Rock 9, Notre Dame 13. Fouled out: none. Technicals: none. 3-point goals: G-LR 3-8 (Vande Kamp 2-6, A.Hopp 1-2), Notre Dame 1-16 (Dirth 1-5). Rebounds: G-LR 29 (Starr 10), Notre Dame 21 (Giannettino 6). Steals: G-LR 9 (Vande Kamp 3, Starr 3, Peters 3), Notre Dame 11 (Giannettino 3, Schilling 3). Assists: G-LR 9 (Vande Kamp, A.Hopp 3, Fiedler 3), Notre Dame 5 (Schilling 3).
Records: G-LR 20-6, Notre Dame 21-6.
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