It had been five years since Dowling Catholic last made it to the Iowa high school boys state basketball tournament.
And it had been even longer since the Maroons last won a game – dating back to the last century. Dowling defeated Bishop Heelan in the first round of the 1992 state tournament, and it had been quarterfinal exits in nine trips ever since.
But that all changed on March 9, when 4-seed Dowling (21-3) took down 5-seed Dubuque Senior, 63-45, at Casey’s Center to advance to the Class 4A semifinals.
“(This team) has a lot of confidence in who they are and what they’ve built,” Dowling coach Justin Einerson said after the victory. “There’s a certain bond that we’ve developed with this group. A lot of them played last year as well … (and you) always know you’re going to get competitiveness.”
Noah Martens scored a team-high 18 points – in addition to six rebounds, six assists, two steals and two blocks – in the win. Charlie Crane and Alfred Kolee put together impressive statistics in the paint, combining for 29 points, 10 rebounds and seven blocks.
“It (feels) so great,” Crane said about working his way back from an injury this season. “Being injured, my shot hasn’t been the same since, but I’m just fighting every day.”
It didn’t take long for Dowling’s big men to assert their dominance over Dubuque Senior. Crane blocked the Rams’ first two shot attempts, and he threw down a dunk on the other end after his second block. Kolee stepped up in the first half as well, making all four of his shots and tallying eight points, six rebounds and one block before halftime.
The Maroons outscored Dubuque Senior, 20-10, in the paint. And Dowling easily won the rebound battle, pulling down 17 boards to the Rams’ seven. The Maroons headed to the locker room at halftime with a 27-18 lead over Dubuque Senior.
Dowling didn’t slow down in the second half. The Maroons outscored Dubuque Senior, 13-3, before the Rams took a timeout, but the stoppage didn’t help. Crane blocked yet another shot on Dubuque Senior’s next attempt, and then Dowling stole the ball on the next inbound.
Tevin Schultz scored on a breakaway layup right before the buzzer, but the Maroons carried a 45-31 lead into the fourth quarter.
The Maroons kicked off the final frame with a dunk from Crane and steal by Noah Martens in the first 32 seconds. Dowling held a lead in the teens through the end of the game, despite the Rams’ best efforts to get more possessions by fouling five times in the last three minutes of the game.
“Usually, we go offense-defense and try to put our best free-throw shooters on the floor late in the game when we have the ball against press,” said Einerson. “Our five-man group on defense was so good that we really couldn’t change it.”
For the first time in 34 years, Dowling advanced to the state semifinals. The Maroons will play the winner of Cedar-Falls/Urbandale on Thursday, March 12 at 10:30 a.m.
Alyssa Hertel is the college sports recruiting reporter for the Des Moines Register. Contact Alyssa at ahertel@dmreg.com or on Twitter @AlyssaHertel.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Dowling boys basketball advances to first state semifinal in 34 years
Reporting by Alyssa Hertel, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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