Five Takeaways: DC-G 63 vs Boone 47

Norwalk -- This game was tight at halftime, then DC-G junior Luke Rankin happened in the third quarter and blew the lid off of things. [caption id="attachment_687203" align="alignright" width="300"] Luke Rankin[/caption] Rankin, a sophomore, was getting open looks from deep -- and we mean deeeep -- and was making them often. He scored 11 of his 18 points in the third quarter, and did a lot of it in a short burst, busting the game wide-open and essentially burying Boone. Freshman Cole Glasgow picked up where Rankin left off, scoring nine fourth quarter points while helping to keep the Toreadors out of striking distance. Boone came into the game with a much better record, it was 12-7, DC-G was 7-13. But the strength of schedule was the key; the Mustangs play in the ultra-tough Little Hawkeye Conference, wins are very tough to come by, their now 8-12 record is misleading. DC-G earned the right to play fellow Little Hawkeye foe Norwalk. The Warriors beat DC-G by 18 and 34 in the regular season. That Substate semifinal will be played Thursday at Norwalk.   Team Scoring DC-G -- 11 11 11 14 -- 47 Boone -- 13 10 21 19 -- 63   Individual Scoring DC-G: Cole Glasgow 19, Luke Rankin 18, Tyler Borneman 10, Dawson Lego 7, Cody Hall 6, Gabe Winn-Peterman 3 Boone: Quali Sporra 14, Justin Aspengren 13, Alexander Sturtz 7, Bret Price 6, Tristan Pearson 2, Brandon Rouse 2, Casey Hutchings 2, Tyler Casotta 1     Five Takeaways Rankin Goes Off At halftime, it was 23-21 DC-G, the start of the third quarter was tight as well -- and then Mustangs sophomore Luke Rankin got cookin'. The coach's son was essential in the win for DC-G, he bust the game wide-open in the third quarter while canning three 3s and scoring 11 points in a flurry. When he was done with his outburst, Rankin and Co. had an 11-point lead, and it was never really close after that.   Glasgow Almost a Miracle Cole Glasgow has already gained a reputation as being one of the state's best freshman shooters. And he nearly had a monumental moment at the end of the first half, that would have made him a local viral sensation on the internet. He was able to alertly come away with a steal on the other side of half court, and with less than a second to do so, he got a clean 55-foot shot off to beat the first half buzzer. It looked to be spot on, and really, it was, but just a touch too strong. Here's some footage of the near miracle shot. https://twitter.com/TjRushing/status/1097661267362361345   Chances vs Norwalk The win for DC-G secured it a spot in the Class 3A Substate 7 semifinals, which means it'll get a crack at Norwalk for the third time this season. It's tough to beat a good team three times, but we wonder if that old adage is thrown out the window when you've utterly dominated the first two meetings. The No. 3 Warriors beat the Mustangs by an average 26 points in the two meetings this season. And while we don't think this next meeting will be so lopsided, Norwalk will certainly be considerable favorites in the game.   The X-Factors In order for the Mustangs to have a chance against Norwalk, the X-factors, as we like to say, will need to have big games. The X-factors are Tyler Borneman, a veteran senior guard who can handle it and shoot and, and Dawson Lego, an undersized, but tough big-man who is a glue guy that does all the little things. If those two can make big contributions and if Cole Glasgow and Luke Rankin can both have huge games, then the Mustangs could keep it close against the heavily-favored Warriors.   Quali Future Boone wasn't able to come away with the W tonight but junior guard Quali Sporaa showed glimpses of what he might be able to do next season. The junior guard is quick and skilled on both both sides of the ball. He scored a team-high 14 points for the Toreadors, and did so while showing a multitude of scoring ability. He finished this season as the team's third-leading scorer with just under 10 points per game. Boone's top two scorers are both seniors, making Sporaa the top-returning scorer in 2019-2020. We won't be shocked to see him put up 15+ points per game next season.