Derek Weiskopf, 24, of Williamsburg and other Raiders defeat the Keekoku Chiefs in the boys basketball 3A semistate finals on Monday, February 26, 2024, at the Alliant Energy Powerhouse in northeast Cedar Rapids, Iowa. and celebrated the victory. Williamsburg won, advancing to the state tournament. (Jim Slosialek/The Gazette)
CEDAR RAPIDS — Last spring's state track and field champions. This fall's state football champions.
Will this be the next state basketball champion this winter?
Williamsburg gave itself that chance Monday night, defeating Keokuk 51-40 in the Class 3A substate final at Alliant Energy Powerhouse. The Raiders will head to Des Moines next week as the No. 8 seed in their class and tie with No. 1 Decorah in the quarterfinals on Tuesday, March 5, at Wells Fargo Arena.
These kids know how to win, dude.
“I know we've been playing our best basketball,” Williamsburg coach Brad Knoop said. “It just confused us. The football players, the mindset, they're all multi-sport athletes. They went to the state track finals, they went to two state finals in football, they played in two state finals in basketball. , they have participated in back-to-back conference championships.
“Winners win. They know what it takes, so they just believed in themselves and went for it. I think that's what happened. It's just everyone carrying each other's backs a little bit.”
Derek Weiskopf has done a lot on the court during his multi-sport career. The University of Iowa football recruit was a four-year starter, a multi-year All-Star as a forward and a guy who initially thought he would pursue a career in Division I college basketball.
He scored 21 points here, punctuating this wire-to-wire victory with an authoritative one-handed dunk in the final minute.
“I just started my senior year and going to Wells means everything to me,” Weiskopf said.
Williamsburg player Grant Hocker ( (12 years old) passes to Williamsburg's Bryson Wetchen (10 years old). We won in Williamsburg and advanced to the state tournament. (Jim Slosialek/The Gazette)
Williamsburg (16-8) led 9-5 after a slow first quarter, extended its lead to 26-13 at the halftime break and built a lead of as many as 20 points at the half. The Raiders may not have played the sharpest game, but Kiokuk (17-7) didn't let his shots fall off the boat in this game, making 2-of-23 3-pointers and shooting He made 8 out of 15 shots. He shot 28 percent from the free throw stripe and from the field overall.
Big 6-foot-9 center Jackson Frost led Kiokuk to 16 points, but Williamsburg made it difficult for him inside and naturally forced no one else to step up and produce consistent offense. I couldn't do it.
“We just worked hard in the game, especially this game,” Weiskopf said. “It wasn't the prettiest. But we overcame it and made it (to the state tournament).”
Many of these players played on Williamsburg's championship football team, so a slow start to the hoops season was somewhat expected. Coach Knoop said he felt his team was playing well the last three weeks or so. That's despite some tough losses in the final stretch, one to Marion and one to Clear Creek Amana during that period.
Williamsburg took on CCA in the state semifinals last week.
“It was a sloppy start at first,” Williamsburg forward Kellen Cockrell said. He had eight points and a game-high 12 rebounds. “There were a lot of turnovers and things like that. As the season went on, we got better and better. Then we started coming together as a team and figuring out who was good at what. Who depending on the situation. , where should I deliver the ball?”
Williamsburg 51, Kiokuk 40
At Alliant Energy Powerhouse
Keoku (40): Tramell Smith 0-4 0-0 0, Jackson Clark 6-10 3-4 16, Brenton Hoard 3-9 3-5 9, Chase Eklund 0-7 0-0 0, Diego Garcia 4-16 2-6 10, Drew Campbell 0-3 0-0 0, Julius Clay 0-1 0-0 0, Bode Beagles 1-2 0-0 2, Lucas Thompson 1-1 0-0 3, Chevy・Burns 0-0 0-0 0. Total 15-53 8-15 40.
Williamsburg (51): Braden Plotz 2-6 1-2 5, Kellen Cockrell 3-6 2-4 8, Derek Weiskopf 8-20 4-4 21, Grant Hocker 4-9 0-0 9, Clayten Steckley 1-4 0-0 2, Bryson Wetchen 0-0 0-0 0, Simeon Ambrecht 2-2 0-0 4, Logan Letwisch 0-0 0-0 0, John Eichhorn 1-1 0-0 2 . Total 21-48 7-10 51.
half time – Williamsburg 26, Keokuk 13. 3 point goal – Keokuk 2-23 (Smith 0-3, Clark 1-3, Hoard 0-4, Eklund 0-4, Garcia 0-5, Campbell 0-2, Clay 0-1, Thompson 1-1), Williamsburg 2 – 12 (Cockrell 0-2, Weiskopf 1-5, Hocker 1-3, Steckley 0-2). rebound – Keokuk 32 (Clark 12), Williamsburg 37 (Cockrell 12). Total number of fouls – Keokuk 10, Williamsburg 12. foul out – none. amount of sales – Keokuk 13, Williamsburg 12.
Comments: (319)-398-8258, jeff.johnson@thegazette.com
