The West Prairie High School boys basketball team celebrated Senior Night in front of a large energetic crowd Thursday evening in Colchester, but Knoxville almost ruined the party before the Cyclones mounted a dominating fourth quarter rally to defeat the Blue Bullets 84-60 in a non-conference battle.
Knoxville dropped a 59-29 decision to WPHS back in December, but came out firing on all cylinders this time around.
West Prairie head coach Ian Conkling started the five active seniors on the roster - Ryan Clark, Brody Cordell, Jason Foust, Hunter Jackson, and Austin Nelson on this occasion and the Cyclones jumped out to a 5-0 lead.
Wayne Beardsley got the Blue Bullets on the board with a basket at the 6:32 mark. Conkling would insert his normal starting group about a minute later after a threepointer from Tanner McGarry gave Knoxville a 7-5 lead.
The score was tied twice before a Hank Walters’ trey gave the Blue Bullets its largest lead of the game at 13-10.
But the Cyclones stormed back with a 13-2 run that included consecutive treys by Braden Coplan, giving the hosts a 23-15 lead after one quarter.
After hitting three treys in the first quarter, Knoxville refused to go away even after the Cyclones had pulled out to a 27-17 advantage early in the second quarter.
Three-pointers from Walters, McGarry and Grant Lambert ignited a 9-2 run to bring the Blue Bullets to within 29-26.
The Cyclones would once again pull away with an 11-4 run including two more treys from Coplan that gave West Prairie a 40-30 lead at the break.
West Prairie appeared to have the momentum to start the second half as the Cyclones eventually took a 46-33 lead after an Eli DeCounter basket at the 6:18 mark.
But Knoxville fought back with a 19-10 spurt capped by a Beardsley three-pointer right before the buzzer to bring the Blue Bullets to within 56-52 going into the fourth quarter.
Another Beardsley basket brought Knoxville to within 56-54 early in the period before WPHS erupted to take control of the game, bringing the boisterous home crowd to its feet.
A pair of Matt Whitman three-pointers surrounded a pair of Coplan free throws gave the Cyclones a 66-55 lead with 5:50 remaining.
The WPHS defense held Knoxville without a field goal for almost five minutes allowing the host to build a 77-55 lead.
Beardsley, who scored all eight points for Knoxville in the period, connected on another three-pointer with just under three minutes to go to end the drought and make it 77-58.
Coplan countered with a trey and a layup and Clark finished the scoring with a basket underneath to give the Cyclones their 22nd victory for the season against only five losses.
“That game was a dogfight,” said Conkling. “(Knoxville) was hitting some key shots and it was a game of runs. They came ready to go and gained a lot of confidence. We tried to mix and match defensively but it seemed that we were one step slow. It’s a testament to how hard they play for their coach.”
Both teams finished with 10 three-pointers in the contest as Coplan had eight for the Cyclones as part of his game-high 42-point outburst.
DeCounter and Clark finished with 16 and 11 points respectively for WPHS. Whitman finished with eight points including two treys, Holden Coplan had four points and Cordell added three points for West Prairie.
It was the first game after West Prairie saw its 16-game winning streak end with a 56-55 loss at Liberty on Feb. 2, but Conkling was confident in his team’s response despite it being Senior Night.
“It was a very emotional night for us with senior night,” said Conkling. “We were trying to work the seniors in and get them comfortable as possible to start the game because it’s a pretty big moment for them. As the game went on, we just matched their energy and found a way to get it done.”
“It was pretty electric tonight,” he added. “With all the lights and stuff, we knew we were going to have a great crowd for senior night. We kind of had to settle into that crowd and we were a little antsy at first but we settled in as the game went on.”
Beardsley led Knoxville with 23 points and McGarry added 20 as the Blue Bullets fell to 2-20 for the season.
The West Prairie junior varsity improved to 20-2 for the season with a 58-30 victory over Knoxville.
The Cyclones led 14-7 after one quarter and stretched the lead to 33-10 by halftime and were never threatened the rest of the way.
Gannon Shipman led WPHS with 21 points and Tyson Carnes added 10.
Others in the scoring column for the Cyclones were Ivan Beck with eight points, Ayden Lacey with five, Mason Sorrells, Mason Whitman and Brant Starbuck each finished with four points while Holden Coplan added two.
West Prairie will host Rushville-Industry in the home finale Tuesday night with the JV contest beginning at 6 p.m.
Read additional Cyclones coverage on page 23
