Junior Braden Coplan poured in 30 points as West Prairie overcame a sluggish start to defeat Rushville-Industry 56-42 Tuesday night in non-conference action at Colchester.
The win gave the Cyclones a school record 23 victories against only five losses this season to break the mark set by the 2003-04 team.
Despite not having 6-foot, 5-inch junior Carter Fretueg in the starting lineup, the Rockets jumped on the hosts with a 9-0 run to start the game, quieting the home crowd and forcing WPHS head coach Ian Conkling into a timeout.
“I’m kind of sick of us coming out a little slow and a little lackadaisical,” admitted Conkling. “We had to figure it out pretty quickly or we were about to get rolled over on. Luckily, we responded.”
Respond the Cyclones did as a put back by Eli DeCounter got West Prairie off and running on an 11-0 run to close out the quarter to give the hosts an 11-9 lead.
A three-point play by Eli Ayers to start the second quarter would give RIHS its last lead of the night at 12-11.
The Cyclones would answer with a 6-0 spurt, including four points from Braden Coplan and a basket by his younger brother Holden Coplan. That gave WPHS a 17-12 advantage with 3:29 left in the half forcing RIHS head coach Tyler Crum into calling a timeout.
Fretueg, who sat out the start of the contest due to a pregame illness, entered the game, but the WPHS defense would allow only a Jagger Bartlett field goal the rest of the period as the Cyclones would take a 27-14 lead at halftime.
“Carter came over during warmups and said he was seeing double, so we had to start with Ian (Escapa) and he did a great job of getting in there,” said Crum. “We would love to have Fretueg in the starting lineup, but if he’s not a hundred percent, we’ve got to adjust. We came out and executed and kind of threw (WPHS) a curveball a little bit.”
Fretueg converted a threepoint play for RIHS early in the third quarter, but Ryan Clark answered with a trey at the other end to make it 30-17.
The period was a seesaw affair as both teams exchanged baskets and the Cyclones would maintain their double-digit lead at 43-30 heading into the fourth quarter.
The Rockets tried to utilize their size advantage and mount a comeback over the final eight minutes, but West Prairie continued to break the Rocket defensive pressure and extended its largest of the game to 16 points on two occasions to earn the record-breaking win.
“We had a great start, but the shots weren’t falling after that,” said Crum. “But, I’m proud of our guys' effort tonight. Braden Coplan is the real deal. He’s an elite scorer. Rylan Reimolds did a great job on him and Keaton Ruth and Ian Escapa came in and chased him ... They did as good a job on him as anybody could do.”
Holden Coplan added eight points for WPHS and Clark finished with seven while DeCounter and Austin Nelson had four points each and Matt Whitman finished with three.
“Braden just kind of has a knack of putting the ball in the hole,” said Conkling. “He has that aggression and he does it all within our offense. To have that on your side is pretty special.”
Bartlett led RIHS with 10 points while Fretueg added nine for the Rockets who fell to 10-12 for the year.
For Conkling, the record win is nice, but he’s not focusing on that with two more regular season games left before regionals begin.
“With us, it’s all about improvements,” aid Conkling. “Twenty (wins) was obviously a personal goal of mine and I didn’t know if that was attainable with a new year and new team. But, we can’t stop where we’re at right now. I told the guys to not be satisfied with what you’ve done up to this point.”
“We have a few more opportunities to make improvements and then we’ve got to make a dent in the postseason,” Conkling added.
The West Prairie junior varsity continued rolling as well as the Cyclones defeated Rushville-Industry 46-40 to improve to 21-2 for the season.
Gannon Shipman led WPHS with a game-high 14 points and Holden Coplan had 11.
Tyson Carnes added seven while Cam Melvin and Ivan Beck had six points each and Ayden Lacey had two points to round out the WPHS scoring.
Nolan Ingles topped RIHS (11-10) with 10 points.
West Prairie will take to the road for its final two games of the regular season, facing Mendon Unity Friday before closing out the regular season against Camp Point Central on Feb. 19.
See additional photos and shots from the West Prairie Cheer clinic below.
