Indians suffer road losses to Crestwood, North Fayette, fall at home to Prairie

After piecing together a four game win streak, the Waukon boys basketball team hit a skid this past week, suffering a trio of losses. Tuesday, Feb. 1, the Indians fell in Northeast Iowa Conference competition to second-rated Crestwood by a 66-55 tally. Friday, Feb. 4, Waukon took a 76-71 loss at North Fayette despite having a fine shooting night. Prairie du Chien handed the Tribe its third straight loss Monday, Feb. 7 by a 55-39 count.
Overall, the Indians are 9-7, including an even 4-4 mark in the NEIC.

at Crestwood...
Tuesday, Feb. 1, the Tribe traveled to Cresco to face Class 3A's second-rated team: the Crestwood Cadets. Waukon battled their hosts closely through the first two frames, but the Cadets made a late run to post a 66-55 NEIC win.
Despite the Cadets' high standing, the Indians were not intimated after pushing them to the brink Dec. 14 in a 66-64 home loss.
Early in the night, it looked like Waukon picked up where they left off in December, taking an 8-7 lead into the second quarter. During the second frame, however, Crestwood secured the lead and expanded their margin to five points, 21-16, as the game broke for halftime.
A minute into the third, Waukon had chiseled its deficit down to two, 22-20, but a determined Crestwood squad roared through the period to take a 51-32 advantage with eight minutes to play.
The Tribe cut the 19-point difference nearly in half, but, try as they may, they could not catch up with the Cadets as the clock ticked away and were forced to take a 66-55 loss.
Waukon coach Don Kuennen credited his squad with a solid showing in the opening frame. "In the first half, I thought our guys made a good effort. On the defensive end especially they did a fine job."
One of the big improvements the coach pointed out was his team's ability to take the charge. "Our guys took two or three charges and that's an improvement. We've struggled to stop dribble penetration this year."
Unfortunately, the Indians had difficulty offensively. "Our defense was good, but unfortunately we shot the ball poorly," the coach added, crediting Crestwood's defense with some of the Tribe's shooting woes. "But, we were still right in the game at the half since we defended so well."
The Indians were feeling pretty confident at the start of the second half, but Crestwood's talent began to show through. "In the third they showed why they're the second-ranked team in the state. They put on a clinic on transition basketball," Kuennen said.
Although the Indians had sported a tough defense in the first half, the Cadets were able to work around the Tribe. "When they got the fast break going, we tried not to let them shoot the lay-up. Then they knocked down a couple threes and that opened the inside up again," the coach said. "We wanted to foul them so they wouldn't have such easy shots, but they passed the ball so well. They put a lot of pressure on our defense."
Once the Cadets expanded their lead, the Indians lost patience on the offensive end. "We got down by eight or ten points and we pushed the panic button. We quit running our offense and forced shots," Kuennen explained.
Despite being saddled with a sizeable deficit, the Tribe didn't quit in the closing minutes. "We were able to regain our composure in the fourth and the guys never quit, but it was just too big of a deficit for us to overcome against a quality team like Cresco," Kuennen remarked.
The Cadets also held an advantage on the boards, reeling in 38 rebounds to the Indians' 25.
Waukon benefitted from a break-out night by sophomore forward Ryan Jones. Jones paced the team with a career-high 18 points, no small feat against a tough team like Crestwood. "Ryan was a bright spot for us offensively and he shot the ball well." Jones added five rebounds, grabbed a pair of steals, and was credited for taking a charge.
Junior guard Ben Rausch sank 17 points in the contest and also collected five boards.
Senior forward Joe Miller led the squad with nine rebounds and a pair of assists. He also recorded two steals.
Sophomore guard Mike Rausch had two steals and sophomore forward Jeremy Hirth denied a Cadet shot attempt.

WAUKON      FG      FT      PF      TP
Mike Rausch      1      0-2      3      2
Ben Rausch      6      5-7      0      17
John Seibert      0      0-1      0      0
Joe Miller      4      0-0      2      9
Dylan Schulte      1      0-0      2      3
Jeremy Hirth      2      0-0      2      4
Ryan Jones      7      2-2      1      18
Kendal Sickels      0      0-0      1      0
Russell ReVoir      1      0-1      0      2
Andrew Snitker      0      0-0      0      0
TOTAL      22      7-13      11      55

3-point goals: Jones (2); Miller, Schulte

crestwood      FG      FT      PF      TP
Derek Sobolik      5      1-2      3      11
Alex Wilhelm      3      0-0      4      8
Greg Levenhagen      3      2-2      1      8
Luke Andera      2      0-0      0      6
John Kelly      0      0-0      0      0
Rodney Stevenson      2      0-0      2      6
Stephen Noe      0      0-0      0      0
Kyle McCarville      2      2-4      1      6
Kelly McCarville      10      1-2      3      21
TOTAL      27      6-10      14      66

3-point goals: Wilhelm, Andera, Stevenson (2)

at North Fayette...
There was sizzling shooting on both ends of the court Friday, Feb. 4, when the Indians traveled to West Union to face the North Fayette Hawks.
Midway through the first period, the Indians began to post a lead and ended the quarter ahead, 20-14. Waukon tried to shake the Hawks in the second, but the host school edged within four by the half, 40-36.
The Hawks' hot hands quickly put them on top in the third. Before the first 60 seconds ticked off the clock, North Fayette had taken a 42-40 lead thanks to a pair of three-point baskets.
At the start of the fourth, Waukon was behind, 57-53, but the Indians found themselves trailing by seven with two minutes to play. Down but not out, the Tribe battled back to within two, but North Fayette sank some critical free throws to take the 76-71 win.
North Fayette shot an impressive 68 percent from the field and were nine-for-14 from three-point land.
Waukon's efforts weren't far behind. The Tribe made a respectable 57 percent of their shots from the floor.
"If you'd told me before the game that we were going to score 70 points and still get beat I'd be real surprised," Kuennen stated. "I'm sure this was an exciting game to watch."
Kuennen thought the contest was similar to Waukon's 2003 substate matchup with Waterloo Columbus. "North Fayette was on fire from the three-point line, but if we extended our defense, they dumped inside to their 6'7" guy," he said. "We just didn't have the answers defensively."
Kuennen certainly gives his charges credit for battling late in the game, but the Tribe's defense couldn't keep pace. "Our kids kept fighting back, but we just couldn't get the defensive stops when we needed. We ended up having to foul them and they made the free throws they needed," he said.
Although the Indians kept their turnover total low, the Tribe's mistakes seemed to come at the most critical times. "We didn't have a large total of turnovers, but they came when we had chances to establish a lead, or at least cut into North Fayette's," the coach said.
Kuennen singled out Hirth for playing tough defense on Justin Steffens, the Hawks' 6'7" center. "Jeremy did a terrific job guarding Steffens. He gave up about seven inches, but he really battled inside," Kuennen mentioned.
Miller led the Indians with 23 points and Ben Rausch added 20. Jones was also in double figures with 14.
Miller had a team-high six rebounds and Hirth grabbed four.
Ben Rausch passed out four assists and Mike Rausch collected three.
Miller picked up two steals and one blocked shot.
Ben Rausch and Jones each blocked a Hawk shot.

WAUKON      FG      FT      PF      TP
Mike Rausch      0      0-0      5      0
Ben Rausch      8      3-5      3      20
John Seibert      1      0-0      0      3
Joe Miller      8      4-4      2      23
Dylan Schulte      2      1-1      1      5
Jeremy Hirth      3      0-0      5      6
Ryan Jones      5      2-2      4      14
Kendal Sickels      0      0-0      2      0
Russell ReVoir      0      0-0      0      0
TOTAL      27      10-12      22      71

3-point goals: Miller (3); Jones (2); B. Rausch, Seibert

north fayette      FG      FT      PF      TP
Jesse Truax      4      0-0      1      10
Chris Schrage      7      5-9      3      22
Justin Haught      1      2-4      1      4
Josh Kelly      7      4-4      2      22
Paul McElvania      0      4-8      3      4
Justin Steffens      6      0-0      2      12
Marcus Belser      1      0-0      1      2
TOTAL      26      15-25      13      76

3-point goals: Kelly (4); Schrage (3); Truax (2)

vs. Prairie du Chien...
Waukon returned to its home court Monday, Feb. 7, hoping to post a nonconference win over Prairie du Chien. The Blackhawks had other plans and handed Waukon a 55-39 loss.
Midway through the first, Waukon trailed, 9-4, but Hirth banked a shot off the backboard and Mike Rausch landed a long two to pull the Tribe within one, 9-8.
Prairie extended its lead to 11-8 by the end of the frame and rallied to a 21-12 advantage with two minutes left in the second. Kuennen reacted with a time out to get his troops regrouped. Waukon responded well, coming alive on both ends of the court to rattle off seven unanswered points and enter the half down only two, 21-19.
The momentum the Indians were gathering faded soon in the third as Prairie's Tyler Keeney opened the quarter with a seven-point run of his own. Ben Rausch broke the Tribe' scoring drought with a bucket, but the Blackhawks poured in eight consecutive tallies to go up, 36-21. Miller landed a triple late in the frame, but Prairie still entered the final quarter with a 41-24 lead.
In the fourth, the Indians just couldn't catch their visitors and suffered the 55-39 loss.
Waukon's play near the end of the second frame was easily the night's bright spot. "The last three or four minutes of the first half we were able to cut a nine-point lead down to just two," Kuennen pointed out.
Defensively, the Indians were victims of inconsistency. "Our first half defense was pretty good. I thought we played pretty well. But, in the second half, we let them have too many lay-ups and second shots," the coach added.
Kuennen cited the Indians' second half play as the ultimate difference in the night. "I was very disappointed with our second half play. During halftime we talked about what we wanted to do: run our offense," the coach explained. "But, they got a run on us and we pushed the panic button. Our shot selection became pretty poor. We had two or three turnovers in a row and two or three bad shots and before we knew it Prairie was up 15 points and the game was over."
The coach pointed out that the Tribe experiencing second half difficulties was becoming somewhat of a trend lately. "At this point, it seems like we don't have the ability, or at least the discipline, to run our offense when we're behind. We break down and try to do things ourselves and we stand around and watch the guy with the ball," Kuennen said.
Waukon might have made things hard on themselves at times, but the Indian coach admits that the Blackhawks were a tough team. "I give a lot of credit to Prairie. They came out fired up to play. They got after loose balls and rebounds and just plain out-hustled us."
How the Indians react in their next contest is the key to the season. "We need to bounce back. I still believe in these players. I think we can be a good team if these guys just believe in each other," Kuennen added.
Miller and Jones paced the Tribe's offense with 11 points each.
Hirth pounded the glass for five rebounds and Miller and Ben Rausch grabbed three each.
Hirth dished out a trio of assists and Ben Rausch added two.
Miller, Hirth, Jones, and Russell ReVoir each had a blocked shot.

WAUKON      FG      FT      PF      TP
Mike Rausch      1      0-0      1      2
Ben Rausch      1      4-7      4      6
John Seibert      1      0-0      2      3
Joe Miller      4      1-2      1      11
Dylan Schulte      1      0-0      0      2
Jeremy Hirth      2      0-0      1      4
Ryan Jones      3      4-4      4      11
Kendal Sickels      0      0-0      0      0
Russell ReVoir      0      0-1      1      0
Andrew Snitker      0      0-0      1      0
TOTAL      13      9-14      15      39

3-point goals: Miller (2); Seibert, Jones

prairie du chien      FG      FT      PF      TP
Chet Reilly      1      3-4      1      5
Joe Whitney      1      0-0      1      2
Alex Schaaf      0      0-0      1      0
Travis Polodna      0      0-0      2      0
Dustin Jaynes      1      0-0      3      2
Brandon Jones      0      0-0      0      0
Vince Halpin      1      0-0      3      3
Tyler Keeney      10      0-0      0      23
Nick Pedretti      1      2-2      2      4
Nick Lenzendorf      1      1-2      3      3
Michael Walter      4      3-4      2      11
Bob Brinkman      0      2-2      0      2
TOTAL      20      11-14      18      55

3-point goals: Keeney (3); Halpin

Tuesday, the Indians hosted Oelwein. They continue with conference action Friday, Feb. 11 on the road at Waverly-Shell Rock. The Tribe continues with road action Tuesday, Feb. 15 in nonconference play at Central. Action begins each night with the sophomore game at 6:15 p.m.