Anyone have any info on the NL loss to Edge-Cole?
From the CR Gazette:
Ed-Co's Vikings lost by three points last season at North Linn and by 10 at home. During the incredible Tri-Rivers Conference run the Lynx have been on, the incredible overall run the Lynx have been on, that said something.
Of course, not as much as Tuesday night ended up saying.
Ed-Co achieved the previously unachievable, knocking off Class 1A's top-ranked team, 52-47, at Edgewood. The Vikings outscored the Lynx in the second quarter, 18-3, to build a 10-point halftime lead, saw North Linn come back to tie with three minutes left but won those final three minutes and the game.
"We understood that it was a huge win," said Ed-Co Coach Justin Olind. "Not so much just the chance to win a conference title or just the basketball part of it. But what really hit home was how big it was within the community. Today with all the outreaching of everybody, how excited they were for the kids and the team and things like that. That's the part that has hit me the most.
"This is kind of what our kids expected to do. We knew we could match them and play a high level of game. Play with them and give ourselves a chance to win."
North Linn saw a 107-game regular-season win streak end. It hadn't lost to a TRC opponent since Alburnett in a 2016 district game, hadn't lost to a Tri-Rivers opponent in the regular season since 2014.
The Lynx are 162-7 since the 2015-16 season, with four of those losses coming at the state tournament. North Linn has been a state qualifier five years in a row, been in a championship game four straight years.
"This can't be the pinnacle of our season," Olind said. "It's always going to be a huge feather when you look back at the end. It's going to be pretty cool to see of all the teams that tried, these guys were the ones who succeeded and did it. Now it's remember why we were able to. We've got to get better each week."
Why they were able to win was a superb defensive effort that held North Linn to 29.8-percent shooting. Ed-Co convincingly won the board battle, 35-21, not giving its opponent many, if any, second looks.
It played like the veteran team it is. Ed-Co has 13 players on its varsity roster, and all 13 are seniors.
It has guys who can handle the basketball, guys who can shoot it, guys who can play on the interior. Forward Mason Ashline leads the team with a 13.9 scoring average, followed closely by guard Korey Putz (12.7) and forward Jack Wiskus (11.3).
Guard Konner Putz (Korey's twin brother) and forward Weston Rowcliffe have been the other starters. Ed-Co also owns high-quality wins over MFL/Mar-Mac and Springville, so this is a very good team.
Olind led the Vikings to the 1A state tournament in 2018.
"It's a (senior) class that has stuck together the whole way," he said. "We started out with 15, we lost one to moving away, one that (basketball) just wasn't his thing. But the other 13 have just stuck with the program for four years. They just love to play basketball together. It's crazy how much they want to get together and play all the time.
"During the summer, I live in Manchester, near Central Park, and they have a blacktop court. They'll call or be banging on my door wanting to come out there and play blacktop ball with them ... I just get a different vibe from this team, on how much they love to play the game together and play with each other and for each other. As long as we continue to defend the way we are and play for the other guy, this team is capable of winning a lot of basketball games."
Olind also wanted it pointed out how much he respects North Linn and its plethora of achievements. He feels it has raised the overall quality of basketball in the Tri-Rivers Conference.
TRC schools Springville and Easton Valley also have been state tournament qualifiers in very recent seasons.
"The reason the Tri-Rivers Conference has elevated, and I feel it has elevated over the last four or five years, to one of the toughest conferences in the state to where night in and night out you've got to bring it ... I really feel how it's because North Linn has really upped the expectations of the conference and really made you raise your game," Olind said. "That's a tribute to them and what they've done for the conference."
According to the Box Score, NL started and played their usual starters.