Why not be a year ahead of schedule?
The Union boys basketball team is chalked full of juniors, sophomores and freshmen, but just one senior. That lack of top-end experience hasn’t stopped the Knights from doing something that hasn’t been achieved since 2008: Play in the state tournament.
The last time they were in this position, current head coach Eric Jesse was a junior for the Knights, but as a first year head coach, he knew from the start that this year’s roster could be something special.
“I knew for sure that we could have a really special team,†Jesse said. “Looking at Bound and being from there, you hear some things. When I started working with them June first in open gyms and playing some teams in the area, I knew we could have a very good team if we got better at the defensive end.
“I knew the team that we could potentially be and with the team being majority juniors, people were saying that we were a year ahead of schedule with our roster makeup. They’ve made some really big jumps, especially defensively.â€
The lone senior on the team, Eric Neipert, leads the team in rebounds at 9.1 per game, shooting percentage at 62.3% and is second in points per game at 11.6.
While this is the first season that Neipert was a focal point and full-time starter for the Knights, he has made the most of the opportunity.
“He’s been everything we could’ve asked for and then a lot more,†Jesse said. “He’s improved a ton on both ends of the floor this year. He didn’t see the floor a lot last year, but he really put in the effort and the hard work over the offeseason.
“He’s a great leader, a very nice kid that the others enjoy being around. Eric’s been fantastic on both ends of the floor. He’s blocking a lot of shots and he really helps us space the floor out with his inside presence, just the ability to throw it to him on the block. If we need a bucket, we can throw it to him, but he is also really unselfish and is able to make that pass that’s needed.â€
Saturday’s upset over Kuemper Catholic may have been the biggest shocker of the postseason, for any class, with the only people really believing that the Knights could advance to the tournament being within the school district.
Kuemper’s lone loss of the season before last Saturday came to 4A Dowling Catholic at the beginning of the new year.
A strong head coach belief and solid play on both sides of the court guided the Knights to the improbable win.
“I wasn’t over confident, but I sure was confident going into that game,†Jesse said. “I felt really good about the matchup, about the game plan and the scouting report that we drew up. With the social media age and the rankings these days, believing is half the battle.
“We know who is in our locker room and the type of players that we have in there. We thought for sure we had a great chance at winning that game. A few of our top priority things were to limit transitions and limit turnovers. Our goal was eight or less and we finished with seven. They really bought into what we wanted to do that game and I’ve never seen a team so laser focused.â€
While that 2008 Union team lost in the first round to Harlan Community 67-55, Jesse’s experience at the state tournament will be an added bonus for this year’s group of players.
“We haven’t gotten together since our win,†Jesse said on Tuesday afternoon in an interview. “We gave them a couple of nights off. We really want to focus on telling them this is a great achievement, it’s supposed to be fun, but there’s a lot of distractions that can come from this. It’s important to realize how close we are to competing for a state championship. Let’s enjoy it, but continue to work really hard.
“When you’re in school, you don’t really even realize how close you are to a state title, then you look back on it and realize how close you really are. We are going to have fun and focus as hard as we can on the task.â€
West Lyon boasts the third-highest shooting percentage in class 2A at 52% and their effective field goal percentage is fourth in the class at 59.2%. They are led by a high-scoring duo in Carson Hoogeveen with 17.5 points per game while Jorden Meyer pitches in 15.2 points per contest. The Wildcats also average 10 steals a game while hauling in 27 rebounds.
“We want to continue to play our type of basketball,†Jesse said. “We want to get out there and run, but we’ve done a really good job at recognizing when we don’t have that transition and holding onto it in the half court to run offense for the best quality shot. Defensively, we’ve really been focusing on taking away the middle of the court.â€
Union will take on West Lyon at the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines on March 11 starting at 5:30 p.m.
