Quarterfinals—like the Elite Eight, but not
Since there are six teams in the Capital City League, it is difficult to make a cliché association with the NCAA tournament. As if that’s the only difference between the biggest event in college sports and what happens in West Des Moines every summer.
Friday’s quarterfinals, to be honest, were a little surprising. Having watched the league all summer, I expected Peak Performance to stand up to Capital City Orthopaedics, but the opposite happened. CCO took a serious lead in the first half and never looked back.
Part of that was because the CCO players simply never missed. Both teams took 84 shots, but Peak made 31 and CCO sunk 47. Any team will have a good shot at winning on a night it makes 56 percent of its shots.
As for individual players, ISU freshman Antwon Oliver was the only one who really stood out to me. Oliver finished with 17 points, tied for the most of any Peak Performance player. He drove to the basket a few times and was taking smarter shots than most of his teammates.
Kris Miller from William Penn definitely had a nice night of his own, scoring 44 points in large part because he made 8-of-12 from 3-point range.
The second game featured the most defense I’ve ever seen in two years of watching Capital City League basketball. Ames/Iowa State point guard Bubu Palo had another good game, with several steals (he was only credited for one, but contributed to more), along with a nice inside-outside game. Early in the matchup between the YMCA and MOHA teams Palo blocked a shot by Marquis Gilstrap, and I really hope he reminds Marquis of that one for a while.
Jamie Vanderbeken played a little bit of defense down low, including a block or two, and showed off a nice hook shot.
The highlight of the game, however, came with 35 seconds to play. MOHA had an 84-83 lead and the ball, when the shot clock should have expired. While the league rules state that there is a shot clock in the final two minutes, there was no physical shot clock in place, so the refs had no idea the ball should have been turned over. A YMCA player fouled Palo, and Palo went to the line to shoot—and make—two free throws, stretching MOHA’s lead to three points. Both Dominique Buckley and Gilstrap attempted 3-pointers in the final 10 seconds, but neither fell and the YMCA team was eliminated on what was likely a technicality.
Friday’s stats:
CCO 126, Peak 89
CCO: Jimmie Binnie (Dayton) 23 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal. Scott Windom (DMACC) 14 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block. Miller 44 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals. Josh Henry (Iowa Central) 10 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist. David Mataloni (5 rebounds, 1 assist, 4 steals. LA Pomlee (ISU) 5 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist. Ryan Sears (Creighton) 8 points, 5 rebounds, 12 assists, 6 steals.
Peak: Chris Colvin (ISU) 15 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists. Oliver 17 points, 4 rebounds, 1 steal. Brent Heemskerk (Drake) 7 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists. Alex Dorr (ISU) 2 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists. Robert Burnett (Wash U) 9 points, 7 rebounds. Tyler Stumme (DMACC) 17 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal. Baley Johnson (IWCC) 11 points, 4 rebounds, 1 steal. Reece Uhlenhopp (Drake) 3 points, 10 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block.
MOHA 89, YMCA 86
MOHA: Vanderbeken 11 points, 8 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal. Nick Grant (Drake) 7 points, 11 rebounds, 7 assists, 1 steal. Ray Miller (Cal State-Fullerton) 9 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists. DeAnthony Zanders (SW Minn State) 5 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists. Bill Freeman (Ellsworth CC) 12 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals. Bubu Palo (ISU) 15 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, 1 block.
YMCA: Gilstrap 21 points, 10 rebounds, 6 assists. Adam Templeton (Drake) 14 points, 11 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals. LaRon Dendy 34 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 blocks. Andrew Dau (Simpson) 3 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal. Dominique Buckley (ISU) 9 points, 2 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 block.
Sunday’s games will again be played at Valley High. Top-seeded Coca-Cola faces MOHA at 5:30, with Granite Transformation playing CCO at 6:45. The winners will play in a championship immediately following.
How did you leave out MOHA’s leading scorer (Aaron Hawley, Drake)? 25 points.
P.S. If you expected Peak to “stand up to” CIO, you obviously haven’t been paying much attention. Peak was the worst team in the league. CIO, when everybody shows up, is the best team in the league.
I definitely didn’t think Peak would crush, or was likely to even beat CCO, just that it wouldn’t lose by almost 40! Peak has been doing a lot better lately, and I don’t think CCO is the best team in the league. I think Peak’s biggest problem is its youth–without checking every player’s age I’d guess its the youngest team in the league–and that Harrison Barnes has only come to two games, although the coaches knew that going into the draft. (HB was taken in the 10th round).