Five Takeaways: Sioux City East at Sergeant Bluff-Luton
Sergeant Bluff— Ranked Missouri River Conference foes Sioux City East and Sergeant Bluff-Luton fought until the bitter end on Friday night, as East won an overtime thriller 74-73. Ras Vanderloo’s squad entered Friday night’s contest following a 93-51 blowout victory…
Access all of Prep Hoops
Continue reading this article and more.
Continue ReadingSergeant Bluff— Ranked Missouri River Conference foes Sioux City East and Sergeant Bluff-Luton fought until the bitter end on Friday night, as East won an overtime thriller 74-73.
Ras Vanderloo’s squad entered Friday night’s contest following a 93-51 blowout victory over rival Bishop Heelan on Tuesday night. The Black Raiders traveled to Sergeant Bluff-Luton unbeaten and knowing it would get all it could handle against an always tough Warrior team.
East’s Aidan Vanderloo against Sergeant Bluff-Luton on Friday night. (GameTime Sports Photography)Sergeant Bluff-Luton took a nine-point lead with under two minutes remaining in the second quarter until East went on a 9-0 run to tie things up with three seconds left. Daniel Wright would then throw a full-court pass to Sam DeMoss for the lay-in with one second remaining to give the Warriors a 31-29 halftime lead.
The entire second half remained tight, as the two teams battled back and forth. East senior guard Aidan Vanderloo drove and hit a jumper with 1:15 remaining in the fourth quarter to give the Black Raiders a 66-64 lead, but DeMoss would be fouled by Jaleque Dunson 10 seconds later and knock down both free throws to knot things up at 66.
Vanderloo would get an opportunity to hit a game winner with only seconds remaining, but missed giving Sergeant Bluff-Luton one final chance. Wright passed it into Conner Groves, who was unable to get the three pointer off before the buzzer sounded.
Overtime provided a raucous crowd with an even more dramatic finish than in regulation. East tried to extend its one-point lead late in overtime, but Daniel Callahan would miss on the one-and-one giving Sergeant Bluff-Luton a chance to take the lead. DeMoss would miss a three pointer from the corner with 16 seconds remaining, only for Wright to get come down with the rebound and score to put the Warriors up 73-72 with nine seconds left.
The lead was short-lived though, as Vanderloo drove to the basket and was fouled by DeMoss with four seconds left. Vanderloo would knock down both free throws to give East the 74-73 lead. Groves again would drive the ball up the floor and heave up a game winner at the buzzer, but the shot was off and East prevailed with a one-point victory.
Team 1Q 2Q 3Q 4Q OT F
Sioux City East 13 16 18 19 8 74
Sergeant Bluff-Luton 12 19 20 15 7 73
Individual Scoring
Sioux City East: Aidan Vanderloo 36, Sayvion Armstrong 17, Javonte Keck 9, Jaleque Dunson 8, Jacob Maxey 2
Sergeant Bluff-Luton: Sam DeMoss 25, Conner Groves 18, Jake Layman 11, Daniel Wright 11, Deric Fitzgerald 3
Aidan Vanderloo is clutch
While we’ve seen the senior guard from East make key plays down the final stretch of games before, he was on a whole new level Friday night. After scoring only nine points in the first half, Vanderloo would go off in the second half and record a career-high 36 points. In the second half, he was 10-of-14 shooting from the field and made two key free throws with four seconds remaining in overtime to secure the win. His mid-range jump shot has been particularly lethal as of late.
Sam DeMoss has arrived
It’s not that DeMoss hasn’t been a key contributor to Sergeant Bluff-Luton these past two seasons, but his performance against East was impressive to say the least. He is viewed as a scrappy and hard-working player, but his ability to score when his team needs big baskets is crucial for Sergeant Bluff-Luton’s success. The 6-foot-2 senior recorded a team-high 25 points against the Black Raiders and hit 64 percent of his shots from the field.
East continues to win games late
Ras Vanderloo’s bunch always seem to find a way to win games late. Since the 2015-16 season, the Black Raiders are an impressive 15-2 in games decided by five points or less. Six of those wins have come against Sergeant Bluff-Luton and Sioux City West. Just when you think you have East right where you want it late in games, it finds a way to come out on top.
Don’t ever underestimate an Adam Vander Schaaf team
Remember when Sergeant Bluff-Luton took a 75-52 beatdown to Sioux City West to open the 2018-19 season on November 26? Yes, that was a team that had limited practice time together and were just getting back into basketball mode after advancing to the Class 3A state football semifinals in mid-November. Since that loss, the Warriors have played significantly better. When anyone tries to doubt this team, all it does is find ways to prove you wrong. Knocking off rival Bishop Heelan in the substate semifinals two straight years to advance to Des Moines is no fluke.
Round 2 is going to be insane
If you thought Round 1 between Sioux City East and Sergeant Bluff-Luton was as good as it gets in high school basketball, imagine getting to watch it twice. Six of the past seven meetings between these two have been decided by an average of 3.5 points. While both programs have been evenly matched over the last few seasons, Sergeant Bluff-Luton hasn’t necessarily been in the conversation of winning an MRAC title. The contest between the Black Raiders and Warriors on January 25th at East High School could decide who takes home the conference championship.