Exorcising the pain: Warhawks overcome Meskwaki and early ouster from 2019

PARKERSBURG – Kayden Ames remembers the pain he felt walking off the gym floor at Aplington-Parkersburg High School in 2019.

He was determined that wasn’t going to happen again when West Fork played in the Class 1A District final against Meskwaki Settlement School on Thursday, Feb. 27.

The junior guard for the Warhawks went off for 30 points – 21 in the first half alone – as he helped propel the fifth-ranked West Fork team past the Warriors, 62-50, and advanced to Saturday’s sub-state final at Nevada.

“I came out and I remember last year when we lost,” Ames said. “I didn’t want to feel that again, so I went in with a chip on my shoulder and the whole team did.

“We came out a little slow at first, but then we battled throughout to the end.”

Riding the big first half, Ames missed his first three shots of the second half before he connected. Ames said head coach Frank Schnoes was still going to give him the green light to shoot.

“He’s always a big supporter,” Ames said of Schnoes. “If I’m 0-for-5 from three he’s not going to tell me to stop shooting. He always says, ‘keep shooting.’”

Despite the slow second half start, Ames went 11-of-17 from the field, 7-of-12 from beyond the three-point line.

Schnoes added, “Picked a good night to have his best shooting night of the year. He was one of the few who hit shots to keep us close (last year). He and Ian (Latham) did a good job of finishing the game off.”

What Schnoes was less displeased about was his team’s free throw shooting. The Warhawks were 10-of-24 from the charity stripe, missing their first seven of eight attempts and went 10-of-22 in the second half.

“I was real surprised the kids had a tough night from the free throw line,” Schnoes said. “Normally, they are good free throw shooters. Normally, I look forward to the guys getting to the free throw line. Funny how that can be contagious when one or two start missing.”

But West Fork hit just enough to keep Meskwaki at bay, despite a concerted shooting effort by the Warriors’ Taurice Grant, who scored 10 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter.

“We did a pretty good job of not turning the ball over, they feed off of turnovers for easy baskets,” Schnoes said. “The kids did a pretty decent job against their press.

“You can’t look past anybody and I know we didn’t look past this. I think we were so concerned with their quickness that we couldn’t get into our game to start. We don’t have to play zone very often and we played zone tonight and once we got into the zone, it took away their drives to the basket and they aren’t as good a perimeter shooting team as they are driving.”

The Warhawks play Ankeny Christian Academy (21-3) on Saturday, Feb. 29 at Nevada High School in the Class 1A Sub-State 6 final. It was a minor 52-48 upset of sorts over top-seeded Madrid.

“They have three players who average between 13-14 per game, kind of like us,” Schnoes said. “It’s a quick turnaround, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday. Everybody is in the same boat, but it sure doesn’t give you much time to (prepare).”

Ask Ames, and he is looking forward to it.

“It’s always been a dream of mine and last year we came up short of that, losing here,” Ames said. “I wanted to do that. I’m just ready.”

West Fork 62, Meskwaki 50

AGWSR (18-5, final) –Osceola Tyon 1 0-0 3, Larnell Velazquez 1 0-0 2, Emmett Roberts 2 2-2 6, Taurice Grant 10 0-0 22, Evan Nelson 1 1-2 3, Victor Balderas 6 1-3 14, Tiernan Wanatee 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 4-7 50.

West Fork (22-2)– Ian Latham 2-4 7-8 11, Brett Weaver 0-2 0-2 0, Kayden Ames 11-17 1-3 30, Jakob Washington 5-11 0-3 11, Cail Weaver 3-4 0-1 7, Brayden Vold 3-4 1-6 7, Joe Ingham 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 22-44 10-24 62.

Meskwaki  17     6     8   15      -   50

W. Fork      13   16   12   21      -   62

Three-point goals – Mesk 4 (Grant 2, Tyon, Balderas); WF 8-18 (Ames 7-12, Washington 1-2, Latham 0-1, B. Weaver 0-1, C. Weaver 0-2). Rebounds– Mesk NA; WF 22, 4 off., 18 def. (Washington 7, Ames 4, Vold 4, Latham 3, B. Weaver 2, C. Weaver 2). Assists– Mesk, NA; WF 13 (B. Weaver 4, Latham 3, C. Weaver 2, Vold 2, Ames, Washington). Steals– Mesk, NA; WF 7 (Latham 3, Ames 2, Washington, Ingham). Blocks– Mesk, NA; WF 2 (Washington, Vold). Total fouls– Mesk NA, WF 10. Fouled out – None.