After a triple overtime 87-86 loss at Camp Point back on Feb. 19, the thirdseeded West Prairie High School boys basketball team took care of business in regulation Wednesday night with a 61-49 win over Camp Point Central in a semifinal contest at the Class 1A Tremont Regional.
CPC came out of the gate right away with a threepointer from freshman Braxton Kestner before West Prairie answered with a 5-0 spurt including baskets from junior Braden Coplan and his freshman brother Holden Coplan to put the Cyclones up 5-3.
A Luke Ippensen free throw would make it 5-4, but WPHS senior Ryan Clark scored at the other end to make it 7-4.
Sophomore Luke Huston drilled a trey to tie the game at 7-7 and Kestner followed with a three-point play to give the Panthers a 10-7 advantage.
Braden Coplan hit his first three-pointer of the night to make it 10-all and Holden Coplan would score right before the period ended to give WPHS a 12-10 lead after one quarter.
The West Prairie defense turned the game around in the second quarter.
The Cyclones held CPC to only four points and WPHS went on to outscore the Panthers 20-4 in the quarter to take a 32-14 halftime lead.
Braden Coplan hit two more treys in the period and Holden Coplan added a three-pointer to help spark the scoring outburst.
Clark and Holden Coplan hit back-to-back three-pointers as West Prairie outscored CPC 6-2 at the start of the third quarter to take its largest lead of the game at 38-16.
That’s when the Panthers turned up the pressure and made a run to get back into the contest.
Kestner and Ippensen combined to propel Central on a 13-0 run and get within 38-29 late in the period.
Braden Coplan and Clark would combine for the last six WPHS points to offset a three-point play by Ippensen and give the Cyclones a 44-32 advantage going into the fourth quarter.
Another Ippensen threepoint play to start the quarter made it 44-35, but Holden Coplan scored on a driving layup followed by two consecutive three-points plays from Braden Coplan to extend the West Prairie lead back out to 52-35.
But Central wasn’t ready to go away as the Panthers came roaring back again on a 12-0 run, including a pair of treys from Kestner, to get within 52-47 midway through the period.
That would be as close as Central would get however as the Cyclones’ defense tightened and the offense took over by scoring the next nine points before senior Kaden Niekamp scored before the buzzer to account for the final score.
“In the second half, we withstood numerous runs as expected this time of the year,” said West Prairie head coach Ian Conkling. “Resiliency and how you respond dictates your fate in a win or go home game. We embraced that mentality tonight.”
Braden Coplan led WP with a game-high 28 points and Holden Coplan and Clark finished with 15 and 10 points respectively.
Junior Eli DeCounter added four points while junior Matt Whitman and freshman Gannon Shipman added two points each.
Kestner led CPC (6-20) with 20 points while Ippensen finished with 17 points.
“We played our best team defense since the championship of the Greenview Tournament versus North Fulton,” said Conkling referring to a 42-31 win back in December. “We minimized outside shots, forced the ball into weaker areas, rebounded the basketball, and communicated well.”
“Our effort and focus on that end was the deciding factor, and giving up under 20 points in the first half established a sense of belief,” Conkling added.
West Prairie (26-6) will next face second-seeded Tremont (22-10) at 6 p.m. Friday with the winner advancing to the Class 1A Monmouth United Sectional beginning next Tuesday night.
“Tremont boasts their own challenges and we will need the same effort out of the gate,” said Conkling. “Now, we’re playing with house money and in an underdog role, so in a hostile environment, we will have to be ready to weather the storm and play with poise.”
“This group is special and I expect them to be ready to go on Friday,” Conkling concluded.
