Scout Boys Advance to Sub-District Final
DC Survives and Advances
February was another good month for the David City Scouts. Going into sub-districts, DC was 5-2 for the month, improving their overall record to 14-7. In addition, the Scouts won 3rd place in the conference tournament, defeating Centennial for the consolation championship. The Scouts hoped to carry that momentum into sub-districts and advance to the 2nd round for the first time in too many years.
For their first round opponent, the Scouts drew Lincoln Lutheran, a familiar opponent. The Scout defeated Lincoln Lutheran on the final day of the regular season 55-46. However, Lutheran was missing one of their best post players in that game, and everybody knows that regular season games and sub-district games are completely different animals.
The Scouts picked up where they left off, playing a very efficient first quarter. For most of the year, the Scouts had relied heavily on their big men to carry them, but in the first quarter, it was junior Seth B. and freshman Austin H. who did most of the damage. Seth scored 7 points in the first quarter, and Austin scored 4 to pace the Scouts to a 16-8 first quarter lead.
In the second quarter, Lincoln Lutheran picked up their perimeter pressure, which was very effective in the first game. The pressure would once again pay dividends for Lincoln Lutheran, as the Warriors doubled their offensive output in the second quarter, mostly off of turnovers and miscues by the Scouts. Seth stayed hot in the second quarter, though, scoring another 10 points. Senior Cody T. came off the bench to score 4 points. The Scouts hit their free throws in the second quarter, going 7-8 from the line in the quarter. The Scouts were 8-12 from the line in the first half, and had they continued that pace, the game could have been much easier, but that was not to be. Going into halftime, the Scouts still had the lead, 36-24.
Lincoln Lutheran continued their perimeter pressure, and continued to have success forcing the Scouts into mistakes and turnovers. The number of mistakes crippled David City's offensive output and let Lincoln Lutheran enjoy easy offensive opportunities. The Warriors outscored the Scouts 14-8 in the quarter, and cut the lead to 44-38 going into the 4th quarter.
In the fourth, Lincoln Lutheran was forced to try to crank up their pressure even more, which resulted in many fouls. Unfortunately for the Scouts, they would only convert 4 of 11 FT attempts in the quarter, denying them the opportunity to seal the victory. For the game, the Scouts were 19-38 from the free throw line. David City was able to make just enough plays down the stretch to force a tie, and at the end of regulation, the game was knotted at 53 and headed for overtime.
Lutheran continued to have to foul to keep pace with the Scouts. David City converted 6-10 from the line in the overtime period. Of note, senior Jerade C. made 4-6 from the line in the 4th quarter and overtime. Those free throws were clutch. Seth also hit 3-4 from the free throw line in the overtime period, allowing the Scouts to record a 61-58 victory and advance to the sub-district finals. Seth paced the Scouts with a season-high 27 points. Jerade joined Seth as the only other double digit scorer for DC with 11 points. Senior Aaron S. scored 9 points, Austin had 5, Cody had 4, junior Justin C. scored 3 points, and junior Sean K. scored two points on a couple of free throws in the second quarter.
David City will play Centennial in the sub-district final. The Broncos defeated the Scouts by 14 on the first game of the year. As mentioned before, the Scouts defeated the Broncos by 10 in the conference tourney. The game will be played at 8:00 pm in Seward High School's gym on Thursday night.
