Marial Deng regains possession for the Indians during their quarterfinal matchup with Harvey/Wells County. (Photo by Mojo Hill)
MAYVILLE — The Indians haven’t forgotten about how the last two postseasons went.
A two-time state champion in Class B, Four Winds/Minnewaukan is yet to make a Division A state tournament.
Coming off a 19-2 regular season, though, and cruising over Harvey/Wells County in the region quarterfinals, the Indians have their sights locked on reversing course.
“Just don’t take nothing for granted,” FW/M senior Marial Deng said. “Our coach is always telling us that. We haven’t made it out of this region yet in Class A. This year, hopefully we’ll be able to do that.”
The No. 1-seeded Indians (20-2) routed No. 8 seed Harvey/Wells County (7-16) on Monday at Mayville State University. It was an 82-47 blowout, securing a spot in Tuesday’s semifinals.
“Now it’s time,” FW/M head coach Rick Smith said. “The new season’s here. We got the first one out of the way; we need to continue. We’re guaranteed at least two more nights here.”
The postseason victory came just over a week after the Indians’ 17-game winning streak was snapped by Hillsboro/Central Valley.
“That is a good team, man,” Smith said. “That’s not a pushover by any means. … Elliot [Rotvold]’s farewell speech, his retirement speech before the game — their fans are into it. Their players are into it. They want to win for him so bad. They came out and shot the ball extremely well.”
The Indians had gone from before Christmas to late February without losing.
“That loss was a practice game where if you lose, your season’s still intact,” Smith said. “You still have things you need to continue to work on to get better. And they kind of showed us exactly what we needed to continue to get better. So they woke us up. Put a little sour taste in our mouth.”
With no wiggle room on Monday, the Indians took care of business.
“It feels great to get the first one and knowing you’re still alive,” Deng said. “Just getting used to this court — a big court — and then getting used to this gym.”
H/WC hit three triples in the first quarter and had an 11-8 lead more than four minutes in.
But once the Indians started scoring, they didn’t stop. Deng grabbed a steal and made a dunk for the lead. FW/M went on a 16-0 run late in the first quarter. Deng scored eight in the quarter, while Jonte Delorme and Joran Lohnes hit triples.
H/WC had five three-pointers of its own in the first half, including three off the bench.
But it wasn’t nearly enough to hang around, especially with the Hornets turning it over en masse.
“The biggest thing is coming out and getting used to a new facility that you’ve never played in before,” Smith said. “A little flat-footed coming out, but once we got rolling, once the first basket went in, it seemed like our defense kind of took over. Forced a lot of turnovers on them, and we got some easy baskets.”
Deng made numerous steals to lead the turnover party.
“We go and trap, and then we’ve just got to read where the next pass will go,” Deng said. “And then I was able to get my hands on a few of those.”
Delorme had a big 12-point second quarter, putting up 17 in the half.
Supported by Deng’s 11, with eight total players in the scoring column, FW/M had a 51-26 lead at halftime.
The Indians came out hot in the second half, sparked by an athletic move from Deng and two more turnovers.
Tyler Black Jr. also chipped in with eight of FW/M’s first 12 points of the second half.
Deng glided to the basket, scoring eight more points in the third quarter to finish with a game-high 19. Most of his points came from the paint; he made eight deuces and went 3-for-4 from the free throw line.
“I think just getting the ball to our posts, and then scoring from the inside,” Deng said. “Once we started getting inside buckets, and our threes started dropping, I think that’s what got us going.”
Delorme was right behind Deng with 18 on the afternoon. He hit three triples.
Lohnes had 13 off the bench. Black Jr. finished with 12, scoring 10 in the second half.
“We started shooting the ball fairly well, attacking the rim,” Smith said. “I still didn’t think we shot as well as we could shoot, but we were getting the looks that we wanted. So if we can keep getting those looks, I think the ball will go in for us.”
The lead was 73-34 ahead of a running-clock fourth quarter. Deng took a well-earned trip to the bench. The remaining starters exited with about six minutes left.
The Indians cruised into Day 2 of the Region 2 tournament.
“It’s all about winning three before you lose two,” Smith said. “That’s what we’ve got to keep our minds on. We’re 1-0. Tomorrow we want to go 1-0 again.”
