Waukon boys basketball team pulls off huge comeback effort in winning two of three games

The Waukon Indian boys basketball team put together a pair of back-to-back wins, including a comeback effort for the books early this week, before finishing up the week with a 59-46 Northeast Iowa Conference loss at Charles City Friday, January 30. Prior to that road loss, the Indians secured a 67-50 non-conference win at Caledonia, MN Monday, January 26 before pulling off a double-digit comeback win at home again Waverly-Shell Rock Tuesday, January 27.

at Caledonia ...

The Waukon Indian boys basketball team traveled across the border to play the Caledonia Warriors Monday, January 26. Waukon faced a tough Warrior squad and it proved to be how a lot of games go in Minnesota, rough, tough, and low scoring in the first half. The Indians took a small lead early in the half but never led by more than two points while never trailing in the game either.

The Indians were led in the early going by the senior trio of Jordon Ashbacher, Brendan Leiran and Craig Mathis, who combined for all nine field goals in the first half, including a three-pointer from Mathis. Senior post player Kyle Torkelson chipped in two free throws for the only other Indian points in the first half.

That scoring column left out senior center Michael Krambeer and junior guard Jake Needham, who have been consistent scorers for the Tribe all season, and pointed to why Waukon only scored 21 points in the first half. However, that was enough to take a 21-19 lead into the halftime locker room.

In the second half, the Krambeer and Needham drought quickly came to an end. For that matter, the overall drought on offense came to an end as the Indians started to burn up the nets. Needham scored a game-high 16 points, all in the second half, and Krambeer pounded away inside and cashed in at the charity stripe for 15 points as well.

Caledonia heated up a bit more as well, but it was not nearly enough, as Waukon's defense held strong for the most part and the Indians ended up pulling away for a 67-50 victory.

"We had a very nice, balanced attack as we had four starters score between 12 to 16 points, along with another adding eight," stated Waukon varsity boys basketball coach Don Kuennen. "The guys defended well as a team and we got away with a win over a very strong Caledonia team."

Leading the way for Waukon was Needham with 16 points, while Krambeer had 15 points and 10 rebounds for another double-double. Mathis hit double digits with 14 points, and Leiran also doubled up with 12 points and 10 boards, and dished out a team-high seven assists as well.

WAUKON FG FT PF TP

Ashbacher, J. 4 0-0 5 8

Mathis, C. 6 0-0 3 14

Leiran, B. 6 0-4 2 12

Needham, J. 6 3-6 4 16

Krambeer, M. 4 7-8 3 15

Laures, J. 0 0-0 0 0

Dee, J. 0 0-0 0 0

Torkelson, K. 0 2-2 1 2

Coté, Z. 0 0-2 1 0

Knutson, D. 0 0-0 0 0

Volbrecht, J. 0 0-0 0 0

Sommer, T. 0 0-0 0 0

Erb, J. 0 0-0 0 0

Haberichter, J. 0 0-0 0 0

Kessel, P. 0 0-0 0 0

TOTAL 26 12-22 19 67

3-point FG: Mathis 2, Needham 1

Caledonia FG FT PF TP

Diersch, A. 0 0-0 0 0

Schleich, A. 0 0-0 0 0

Costigan, S. 0 0-0 0 0

Runningen, K. 0 0-0 2 0

Grau, J. 2 1-2 1 5

Ideker, M. 1 0-2 2 2

O'Heron, C. 0 1-2 0 1

Goetzinger, R. 4 3-6 1 11

Haugstad, C. 6 0-0 3 16

Augedahl, B. 1 2-2 4 4

Layham, E. 2 0-0 3 4

Reiser, M. 1 5-7 0 7

TOTAL 17 12-21 16 50

3-point FG: Haugstad 4

vs. Waverly-SR ...

Unbelievable.

That's about the only word to really describe what happened Tuesday night, January 27 when the Waukon Indian boys basketball team hosted Waverly-Shell Rock in a rescheduled affair from two earlier postponements. After losing a close battle with the Go-Hawks on the road just four nights earlier, the Indians seemed to have that loss weighing heavily on their minds, as they let Waverly-SR build a 42-23 halftime margin that would stand all the way into the fourth frame.

That mindset, however, took a complete 180-degree turn in that final quarter, as the Tribe poured in a 23-4 outscoring of the visitors and forced an overtime session in which the Indians pulled out a 71-69 triumph.

The Indians played right with the Go-Hawks during the first quarter of the game as they got a couple of baskets inside from senior center Michael Krambeer. Waukon also got baskets from seniors Jordan Ashbacher and Brendan Leiran in the early going, but trailed the Go- Hawks, 14-11, at the end of the first quarter.

Disaster started to strike during the second period for the Indians. Nothing seemed to go right, while everything imaginable was going right for the Go-Hawks. Waverly got good production inside from senior center Clayton Werkman, and got even better results from freshman guard Connor Coleman and senior guard Jacob Reinhardt, as they drained seven three-point shots combined in the first half.

That effort was starting to put the game out of reach for Waukon as they headed to the locker room trailing, 42-23. In the third quarter it seemed as if every time Waukon would make a good play it was canceled out by an even better play for Waverly. All that effort was lost in the third, as the Indians still trailed by 19, 58-39, with just one regulation period remaining.

Early in that fourth quarter the Go-Hawks pushed the lead to 21 and most of the fans in the gym were ready to leave. The Indians, however, were not ready to quit, or lose for that matter, as they raised the intensity and started to claw back into the game.

Part of the spark came from senior reserve guard Joey Dee. "We had 14 steals in the game," noted Waukon head coach Don Kuennen. "Almost all of the steals were in the fourth quarter and Joey's was one of the biggest ones that led to a transition basket and sparked the comeback."

Even with Waukon pushing hard and extending the defense to a frantic full-court, trapping style it seemed as if it could be "too little, too late" as the Tribe still trailed by 15 with just under five minutes to go. At that point, Leiran and junior guard Jake Needham took over the game. "Brendan was just unstoppable," stated Kuennen. "He put us back in the game with three straight three-pointers." Leiran's third three was with 1:40 remaining in the fourth and was from "downtown" with a hand in his face, cutting the Indian deficit to just two points.

"Jake also hit a couple huge baskets for us, including two free throws to tie the game," noted Kuennen. That tie would complete an amazing Indian comeback and force an extra period at 62-62.

Waukon got into overtime with the clearly rattled Go-Hawks, but fell behind by four points again, and it seemed the Indians' bubble may have burst. Ashbacher had something to say about that, however, as he hit a huge three-pointer to get Waukon back in the game once again.

With the game tied once again, the Indians took final control with about a minute remaining and spread the floor to hold for one shot. Senior Craig Mathis drove the lane with 15 seconds to go and missed a tough running shot, but Leiran was there to clean the boards and lay the miss back in to give Waukon a 71-69 lead with just under 10 seconds to go.

Waverly had one final shot at letting the game slip completely away, but the Indian defense forced a desperation shot at the buzzer and Waukon survived with a spectacular, 71-69 victory.

Leiran's late barrage catapulted him to a game-high 25 points and 12 rebounds. Krambeer had 18 points and tied Leiran for the team high with 12 rebounds, marking Krambeer's sixth straight double-double. Needham had a great night as well, scoring 17 points and dishing out a team-high 10 assists. Needham was also six-for-eight from the free throw line, all of them coming at crucial points late in the game. Ashbacher was the fourth Indian in double digits with 11 points, and he also tied Needham with a team-high four steals.

"That was as crazy a comeback as I have ever seen," noted Kuennen. "The boys deserve all the credit for never giving up and making big play after big play on both sides of the ball in the last five minutes of the game and in overtime."



WAUKON FG FT PF TP

Ashbacher, J. 4 2-2 4 11

Mathis, C. 0 0-0 3 0

Leiran, B. 10 2-2 3 25

Needham, J. 5 6-8 4 17

Krambeer, M. 6 6-6 2 18

Laures, J. 0 0-0 1 0

Torkelson, K. 0 0-0 1 0

Dee, J. 0 0-0 1 0

TOTAL 25 16-18 19 71

3-point FG: Leiran 3, Needham 1, Ashbacher 1

Waverly-SR FG FT PF TP

Coleman, C. 5 2-2 3 16

Rewerts, J. 7 1-3 3 15

Werkman, C. 6 0-0 3 12

Reinhardt, J. 3 1-2 1 10

Wilcox, A. 2 2-2 0 6

Bristol, B. 2 0-0 3 4

Steggall, B. 1 0-0 1 2

Wright, D. 0 1-2 0 1

TOTAL 26 7-11 14 66

3-point FG: Coleman 4, Reinhardt 3



at Charles City ...

The Waukon basketball boys traveled to Charles City Friday, January 30 looking to avenge an earlier season home loss to the Comets.

Waukon started out behind in the early going but hung around despite not getting much going on the offensive end. The Indians trailed by a 16-13 count at the end of the first period. "Their big man, (6'7" post player) Nathan Buss, gave us quite a bit of trouble inside," noted Waukon boys varsity basketball coach Don Kuennen. "He blocked a handful of shots and really controlled the boards."

Indian senior Brendan Leiran led the way for the Indians in the first half, scoring eight points in the early going. He was assisted by junior guard Jake Needham and senior post Michael Krambeer adding four points each. Senior Jordan Ashbacher hit the lone three-pointer in the first half for the Tribe. The offensive struggle kept the Indians trailing, 27-19, at the end of the first half.

In the second half Waukon got it going a little more, but so did the Comets on the offensive end. Charles City pushed its lead to 13 at a few different points throughout the second half. Every time the Indians would seem to cut the lead into single digits the Comets would answer back.

The Indians cut the lead to as little as six points with about two minutes left in the game after a couple of three-point bombs from Needham and one from Krambeer that fueled comeback hopes for the Tribe. After that, however, the Comets controlled the ball and hit a couple of free throws down the stretch to seal the Indian defeat, 59-46.

Waukon was led by Needham with 14 points, with Leiran hitting for 13 points. Krambeer finished with 12 points and 12 boards for his seventh straight double-double.



WAUKON FG FT PF TP

Ashbacher, J. 2 0-0 4 5

Mathis, C. 1 0-0 1 2

Leiran, B. 5 2-2 1 13

Needham, J. 6 0-0 3 14

Krambeer, M. 4 3-3 2 12

Laures, J. 0 0-0 3 0

Dee, J. 0 0-0 0 0

Torkelson, K. 0 0-2 0 0

TOTAL 18 5-7 14 46

3-point FG: Needham 2, Ashbacher 1, Leiran 1, Krambeer 1

Charles City FG FT PF TP

DeBower, J. 10 1-3 0 21

Struthers, D. 7 1-2 4 15

Buss, N. 5 2-2 4 12

Vanderwerf, J. 3 2-2 1 8

Vanderwerf, G. 1 0-0 0 3

Schlader, D. 0 0-0 0 0

Isakson, Z. 0 0-0 1 0

TOTAL 26 6-9 10 59

3-point FG: G. Vanderwerf 1

The Indians move to an overall record of 8-6 on the season, including a mark of 3-5 in NEIC play. The Indians will spend the next week's worth of games at home, hosting Decorah Tuesday, February 3, New Hampton Friday, February 6, and Crestwood Tuesday, February 10. The Indians will then have nearly a week off before playing LaPorte City, Union at Wartburg College in Waverly Monday, February 16 and then wrapping up the regular season with a Thursday, February 19 home contest against Oelwein.