(Council Bluffs) The West Harrison Hawkeyes raced past AHSTW with a 12-0 run in the first quarter and won Saturday’s Class 1A Substate 8 Final by a score of 59-55.
The Rolling Valley Conference champs led by double figures most of the night, backed by an impressive rebounding performance, scrappy defense, and hot shooting. It was just the third time all season the Vikings had been held under 60 points. Koleson Evans led a balanced scoring display with 13 points, Mason McIntosh had 12, and Mason King finished with 11. Sage Evans was big catalyst with 9 points along with a huge night on the boards. The Vikings had very few second chance opportunities. Six of King’s points came in the first quarter during a stretch that saw West Harrison go from trailing 6-3 to leading 12-6.
The Hawkeyes built a double digit lead midway through the 2nd quarter at 24-13 and pushed the margin to 15 at halftime. AHSTW was just 2/8 from the free-throw line at half and didn’t make a single 3-point field goal until the 3rd quarter. Raydden Grobe scored nine of his team high 16 points for AHSTW in the 4th quarter. The Vikings chipped into the deficit, but had too big of a hole to climb out of. They got within seven in the final few minutes, but the four point final margin was as close as they had been since the 1st quarter. Brayden Lund and Kyle Sternberg each scored 11 points and Jace Peterson finished with 8.
5th ranked AHSTW’s season closes at 23-2. West Harrison, now 22-3, moves into a Class 1A State Quarterfinal for the first time ever. They’ll play at Wells Fargo Arena on Monday, March 7th. They are the #6 seed and meet St. Mary’s, Remsen at 3:45 p.m.
