WC Guys Pick Up District Title

All season I've felt like the WC guys were just a breakthrough away from dominating someone. I've documented their physical dominance, that much is easy to see when they walk on the court. Saturday night I saw them play the way I thought they could for the first time this season.

I wasn't sure what to expect from Harrisonville (who has to be starting to not like WC, remember we ended their forever long home winning streak in football back in week 1). They had put up 90+ points on Thursday night against Carl Junction, so we knew they could score in bunches. But Saturday seemed to be less about Harrisonville and more about the Cards playing their own game.

Parker Graham spent a lot of minutes on the bench because every time he looked at someone they called a foul on him. He ended up on the floor one time (how that happened I'm not sure) and instead of calling the foul on the other guy, they called a double foul. Ordinarily Parker watching from the bench is a really bad sign, but last night it led to a couple of positive things (let me be clear, I'm not suggesting that WC is better with him out, only that him being out allowed a couple of other guys to step up and that I believe they're going to be a better team going forward because of the experience).

Austin Lepper has played well all season, but at times I've felt like we needed to give him his shoulder pads back to make him feel more comfortable on the floor. Like Graham, being so much stronger than his opponents makes it tough not to get a lot of fouls because the moment he touches someone they're probably going to go flying. At times I've felt like he was being too cautious, trying to stay out of foul trouble (and who can blame him?). Over the last few games I've seen him play, however, it has seemed that he's started figuring out how to channel his inner pass-rusher and become a defensive force on the court. He had a couple of blocks on Saturday that were awesome. You knew when he went up that some combination of ball and shooter were going to get redirected. The only real question was what was going to land where. He was about 50/50 when it came to getting a clean block and shutting the whole thing down while getting his money's worth on a foul. But, and this is key, he picked up his first foul in the third quarter. That's a sign of strength playing with discipline, but there was nothing timid about it. Austin's success on defense led to success on offense. He finished with at least 15, may have been more than that.

Hunter Luna - another WC football guy - has played in spots when another big body was called for, but had yet to show (at the games I'd seen) that he could come in and really play a big role. Last night he did. He played a bunch of minutes, was good on defense and made some plays on offense as well. This is a big deal going forward, because it should give the coach some confidence when it's time to put him in the lineup.

Trey Laveroni played better than I've seen him play this season. This is important going forward if the Cards are to make a run in the playoffs. He should cross the 1,000 career point mark early in their game on Wednesday night.

Patrick Drake (brother-in-law) played well and continues to show a lot of poise handling the ball. He's a good shooter and play-maker, but in a crunch they need him handling the ball against pressure. He's cool under fire and tall enough to see the whole court.

Maddy Johnson gave the Harrisonville point guard fits in the second half. That was fun to watch.

All of this led to a dominant performance. The Cards played with confidence in ways I've not seen since last year's team. If they play like they did Saturday going forward I think they have a fair shot of making a run.