Waukee Northwest basketball storms past Waukee and into Iowa state championship game
In its second year as a school and second trip to the Iowa high school state tournament, 3-seeded Waukee Northwest boys basketball has a chance to compete for the title after beating 2-seed Waukee, 66-46, on Thursday night.
Waukee Northwest will face 4-seeded Valley in the Class 4A Iowa state championship on Friday, Mar. 10 at 7 p.m. The Tigers beat 8-seeded Pleasant Valley, 58-51, to advance to the title game.
Northwest split the regular season series against Valley. The Wolves won the first matchup, 61-45, but lost the second game, 75-64.
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The last time Waukee and Northwest faced off, it was the Warriors who walked away with a 77-55 blowout victory. It was the opposite in Thursday’s semifinal.
“You can’t win a state championship on January 20,” said Northwest coach Brett Watson. “That’s what we told our kids and since that point, we kind of flipped a switch. We’re so proud of our kids after that game.”
Waukee’s Cade Littlefield scored the first points of the game, sparking a mini-run that allowed the Warriors to jump to a 10-point lead by the midway point of the first quarter.
Despite Waukee’s strong start, Northwest managed to settle into a groove. The Wolves were down by 4 points at the end of the first, but then shot 75% from the field to finish the second quarter with a 33-20 lead.
Cade Kelderman made 3-of-4 3-pointers and went 6-for-8 overall in the first half to push Northwest ahead. The Wolves stepped up on defense, as Waukee went from shooting 58.3% in the first quarter to 28.6% in the second.
Northwest carried that success into the second half. The Wolves built up a 19-point lead early in the third quarter and went into the fourth with a 16-point advantage. Northwest was helped out by Waukee, too. The Warriors had six fouls by the end of the third quarter, meaning the Wolves had the bonus in the fourth.
Free throws helped Northwest. The Wolves shot 93.3% from the charity stripe, compared to Waukee, which only made 3-of-11. Those extra points pushed Northwest to a 20-point win over its cross-town rival.
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Kelderman scored 26 points and added five assists in the Waukee Northwest win. Pryce Sandfort, Grant Tigges and Andrew Cose all contributed double-digits.
Omaha Biliew led Waukee with 21 points.
As predicted, Cade Kelderman is the difference maker for Waukee Northwest
In a battle between two of the state’s top senior recruits, Northwest had to find a way to play its game without Pryce Sandfort.
Sandfort — an Iowa basketball signee — was called for three fouls before the end of the first quarter. He spent the entire second quarter on the bench and only played six minutes in the opening half.
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He returned in the second half and didn't get any more fouls. Even with the early fouls that took him out temporarily, Sandfort still had a double-double. He recorded 10 points and had 10 boards.
But Northwest proved one thing with Sandfort held back in the first half: The Wolves don't need their best player to pull off a win.
“Obviously Pryce is our main guy, but when he goes down, we don’t have time to complain,” Kelderman said. “Just playing our game and trusting our guys, making plays for each other. It was just fun playing out there.”
So, without Sandfort’s usual dominance, who were the Wolves’ major playmakers?
Kelderman carried this team in the semifinal, as he has throughout the season. He matched Sandfort’s production all year, and there were several games in which he was the difference between a Northwest win or loss. That was the case Thursday.
“He’s the most underrated player in the state,” Watson said. “He’s got to get his credit because he does it night in, night out. He’ll do it with the scoring, he’ll do it with assists and he’ll bring defense every single night.”
Tigges and Cose also changed the course of this game. Cose made some big shots when Northwest needed them most, and Tigges had no easy assignment guarding Biliew and Vance Peiffer.
“Just staying calm,” Tigges said of his success against Biliew and Peiffer. “Both good players but I just put my heart into it and you can get anything done you put your mind to.”
Alyssa Hertel is the college sports recruiting reporter for the Des Moines Register. Contact Alyssa at ahertel@dmreg.com or on Twitter @AlyssaHertel.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Waukee Northwest boys basketball beats Waukee for spot in title game
