Roland-Story boys turn in historic season with state semifinal appearance

The Roland-Story boys basketball team knew it had a tough act to follow entering the 2022-2023 season.

The 2021-2022 Norsemen went undefeated in the Heart of Iowa Conference and made the state tournament for the first time in 10 years. With four starters back off that team the 2022-2023 team had the potential to do even better, but it wasn't going to be easy.

The Norsemen were going to have a target on their back all season. They took several teams' best shots, especially during Class 2A Substate 3 competition.

But despite facing several tough challenges, they managed to surpass last season's remarkable 22-3 run. The 2022-2023 Norsemen went 25-2, won their third-straight HOIC title with a second-consecutive 14-0 run through the conference and made it to the 2A state semifinals — earning the program's first state tournament victory since its 1977 state championship team in the process.

"They set a goal of getting back to Des Moines and competing for a state title and they did that," Roland-Story coach Darrin Berggren said. "This year was different in the fact that we started the year ranked pretty high and there was a lot of pressure on these guys to repeat in the conference and get back to Des Moines.  I was really proud of how they handled all of that and performed at a high level every night."

Roland-Story started off the season by winning its first 10 games. The Norsemen defeated Gilbert (53-36), Greene County (68-37), Nevada (79-56), Perry (82-37), Saydel (86-40), Prairie City-Monroe (64-39), Iowa Falls-Alden (70-41), West Marshall (75-22), Southeast Valley (86-38) and South Hamilton (74-43).

Eventual undefeated 1A state champion Grand View Christian, featuring a front line with 7-foot and 6-9 players, ended the streak and handed Roland-Story its only loss of the regular season Jan. 12 in Ankeny, defeating the Norsemen by an 85-67 score.

Roland-Story bounced back with a 72-48 win over Greene County. The Norsemen then won an exciting 85-80 game against Nevada at home and won another tight one at Carroll, 54-50.

From Jan. 23-31 Roland-Story pulled off five decisive victories, defeating Dike-New Hartford (78-43), Perry (79-25), Saydel (73-45), South Hardin (75-60) and South Hamilton (78-49).

The Norsemen opened February with a tough 66-60 victory over PCM and then they crushed West Marshall, 83-33, to wrap up another undefeated HOIC run. Roland-Story ended the regular season surviving a scare from Grundy Center with a 55-53 victory over the Spartans Feb. 10.

Roland-Story opened 2A District 5 competition with a decisive 67-46 win over PCM. But in the finals the Norsemen were pushed to the limit by South Hardin, rallying from a 12-point deficit in the fourth quarter to prevail by a 61-55 score.

That put Roland-Story up against Hudson in the 2A Substate 3 final at Marshalltown for the right to go to state. The Norsemen blew an 18-point lead in the second half, but they responded just in time to pull off a 55-51 victory and earn another trip to state.

"They didn't let a big deficit or a big run by the opponent deter them from focusing on what needed to be done to win the next possession," Berggren said. "We also have a very competitive group who has won a lot of games, had been in those situations before and know how to make winning plays.  It was definitely a group effort as different guys stepped up at different times."

Roland-Story was the second seed in 2A at state.

The Norsemen took down No. 7 seed Kuemper Catholic in the quarterfinals, 60-52, behind 25 points and 22 rebounds from senior center Luke Patton, but they ran into a buzzsaw against third seed Western Christian in the semifinals. Western Christian overpowered Roland-Story in the second half, handing the Norsemen a 79-61 loss to end the season.

"I think what I enjoyed most was just what fun it was to watch them play and the joy they got from playing together," Berggren said. "We had some great crowds and some really fun environments to play in. Our biggest highlights were getting another undefeated conference championship, winning the district and substate titles and getting back to Des Moines and winning a game down there.  To finish in the final four is a big accomplishment in 2A where there are 96 teams!"

Roland-Story achieved those big goals by being a complete team.

The Norsemen averaged 70.6 points, the seventh-most in 2A, shooting 44.2% from the field and 61.6% from the line. They also made 191 3-pointers at a 33% clip and averaged 16.7 assists against 9.5 turnovers.

On defense Roland-Story ranked 10th in 2A, yielding just 48.2 points per game. Opposing teams only shot 35.2% from the field.

Rebounding was Roland-Story's biggest strength. The Norsemen led 2A in rebounding at 42.2 per game and they outrebounded their foes by 12.1 per game.

"We put a big emphasis on rebound margins and turnover margins," Berggren said. "We led the state in rebounding and averaged under 10 turnovers a game while attempting the most shots in 2A.  That shows we had a lot of possessions but really limited turnovers.  Consistency was key to winning the conference title.  We had a veteran group who had played a lot of games and a lot of games together and they showed up every day ready to play.  The biggest thing on getting back to state was handling all the ups and downs of the games.  You have to really focus on the next play and try to block out the crowd and everything else going on.  I think our guys did that and were able to respond to adversity really well when it hit."

Junior guard Jonovan Wilkinson, senior guard Isaiah Naylor and senior center Luke Patton were first-team All-HOIC performers for Roland-Story.

Wilkinson was also an all-state selection and he averaged 16.3 points, 6.8 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 2.2 steals as Roland-Story's best all-around player. He shot 47.7% from the field, 65.9% from the line and made 20 3-pointers at a 33.9% rate.

Naylor finished his career with 1,005 points and his 481 points for the season were the second-most in program history. He made a school-record 76 3-pointers on 32.3% accuracy, shot 40.1% overall from the field and 67.2% from the line and averaged 17.8 points, 2.3 assists and 1.9 steals.

Patton was also a 2A all-tournament selection. He led all of 2A in rebounding at 13.4 per game and also averaged 10.6 points, 2.2 assists and 1.4 steals and blocks apiece, shot 49.8% from the field and made 14 3-pointers.

Senior forwards Ben Greenfield and Kale Lande were the other starters for Roland-Story.

Greenfield averaged 7.2 points, 5.0 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.5 steals. He shot 43.2% from the field and made 11 3-pointers.

Lande put up 5.0 points and 4.9 rebounds per game. He shot 50% from the field.

Junior guard Boaz Clark and senior forward Dillon Lettow were the top players off the bench for the Norsemen.

Clark made 40 3-pointers on 35.1% accuracy and he averaged 7.0 points, 2.5 assists, 1.5 steals and shot 82.1% from the line. Lettow tallied 5.1 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game and he shot 49.2% from the field and made 16 3-pointers.

Next season it will be tough to replace Naylor, Patton, Greenfield, Lande and Lettow. But with Wilkinson and Clark back to lead the way Roland-Story still plans on fielding a formidable team in 2023-2024.

"We return 2 all-conference players, including a first-team all-stater, and they have won a lot of games already here and have performed at high level on the biggest stages," Berggren said. "We also have a JV team that went 16-3 and only lost one game after Christmas. Those guys got a lot better practicing every day against a top-four team in the state and they are hungry for their chance to get out and show what they can do at the varsity level."

This article originally appeared on Ames Tribune: Roland-Story boys basketball team turns in a season for the ages