GRIMES — Tenth-ranked Des Moines Christian had to know they would be in for a scrap.
The Lions (20-3) owned a pair of six-point regular season wins over Woodward-Granger (15-9), both of which could have easily gone the other way. Tuesday, the third meeting of the season between the rivals did.
W-G squandered a 16-point halftime lead and trailed, 63-62, with under a minute to play before a Reese Jamison basket and two J.P. Nixon free throws rescued the Hawks and created a 66-63 win.
The victory sends W-G into a substate final game for the first time in at least 20 years. The Hawks notched season win number 15 with the victory, the most in the same span. W-G had not appeared in the state tournament since coming up on the short end of a 55-54 quarterfinal contest against Iowa City Regina in the 1986 Class A tourney.
Earning a second appearance will require the best effort of the year from W-G, as they will face top-ranked Treynor (23-0) at 7 p.m. Saturday in Harlan. Treynor advanced with a 52-34 win over Underwood Tuesday.
W-G sizzled from the foul line against DMC, burying 14-of-16 attempts while the Lions made only 8-of-16. DMC hit 25-of-60 field goals (5-of-21 on 3-pointers) while W-G was 25-of-43 from the floor (2-of-7 beyond the arc).
The Hawks held an 18-12 lead after one quarter, then used a 21-9 second quarter to open a 37-21 bulge at the intermission.
DMC slowly chipped away, cutting their deficit to 49-43 after three frames and then steadily eroding the W-G advantage until taking the lead in the final minute.
Hawk head coach Brent Achenbach said the reasons for the differing halves for each team was a simple one: converting on missed shots.
“We really finished well and put the ball back in on misses in the first half and they (DMC) really struggled to do the same thing,” he explained. “Then, in the second half, it completely turned around, and suddenly we couldn’t finish plays. Thankfully we had guys step up for us and our defense made plays when they had to.”
Trailing, 63-62, W-G moved back in front with a Reese Jamison basket. DMC missed on their end, with J.P. Nixon securing the defensive rebound. He was fouled with just over four seconds to play and calmly sank both freebies for a 66-63 lead. A desperation trey by the Lions was off the mark, leading to a wild celebration by the W-G team and their faithful.
Noah Hoyt singed the nets for W-G in the win. He missed both of his 3-point shots, but was otherwise 10-of-11 from the floor in scoring a team-high 20 points.
Keith Braunschweig had 15 points, seven rebounds and three blocks for W-G, with Bryce Achenbach scoring eight points while pulling down nine boards and making seven assists while Nixon eight points and eight boards.
Jamison tallied seven points in the win, with Kaya Bowlsby contributing six points and Alex Bice two.
Isaac Prewitt’s game-high 26 points paced DMC. Seth Juhl had 19 points, Brady Hewitt 13, Justin Groen four and Cuirran Ingram one.
“We just need to go out and play our game — there is no pressure on us,” Achenbach said of Saturday’s Substate Final. “The guys have earned being there, have earned this opportunity.”
