DES MOINES – Carroll Kuemper's four seniors are its 8th- , 10th- , 11th- and 12th-leading scorers.

But coach Tyler Edwards felt they had earned it, so as Kuemper trailed IKM-Manning 40-29, Alex Wiederin, Kent Henderson, Michael Greteman and Alex Wagner started the fourth quarter with junior Cody Williams on Friday.

It was only a consolation game, but judging by the fans' and players' reactions after the final horn, that fourth quarter won't soon be forgotten.

Williams and Kent Henderson opened the final period with 3-pointers, and Kuemper rallied to beat western Iowa rival IKM-Manning 48-45 in the Class 2-A third-place game at Wells Fargo Arena.

“It's kind of one of those things you make a movie about,'' said Edwards, whose team trailed by as many as 13 points. “The way that we battled all year. We couldn't do anything. Our offense was struggling. The IKM-Manning zone was causing us problems.

“In the fourth quarter, we put our four seniors in that have stuck with us for four years. And they brought the magic back.''

Second-seeded IKM-Manning, rated second in the state and first in western Iowa (Class 2-A/1-A), closed at 25-2.

Eighth-seeded Kuemper, unrated in the state and fifth in western Iowa, closed at 17-12 after starting the season 2-5 and 6-9. The Knights tied for sixth in the Hawkeye Ten Conference, but they ended up earning the fourth-highest state finish in school history.

“This whole season's about never quitting, and we showed that today,'' junior Taylor Pudenz said. “We've been down all year, and we know what it takes to come back.''

After Williams opened the fourth with a 3-pointer, the 6-foot-3, 245-pound Henderson lined up a shot from the top of the key that found the bottom of the net. It was his fourth make in 13 tries from 3-point range this season.

That cut the IKM-Manning lead to six, and Henderson scored in traffic underneath moments later to pull Kuemper within 42-37 with 5:12 to play.

Wiederin's bucket pulled the Knights within three with 1:44 remaining. Matthew Berg's putback cut the IKM-Manning lead to 44-43 with 55 seconds left.

Foul shooting haunted the Wolves in the fourth quarter. They made just 3 of 11 from the line. Bryce Irlbeck split a pair with 47.6 seconds left to put IKM-Manning up 45-43.

But then Bryce Berg found Matthew Berg inside, and he scored and was fouled with 31.9 seconds left. Matthew Berg made the free throw to give the Knights a one-point lead, their first of the second half.

“We played these guys over Christmas break, and we were excited at the thought of meeting them in the state tournament,'' Matthew Berg said.

Irlbeck missed on a drive to the basket, and Andrew Schleisman rebounded. Schleisman made 1 of 2 free throws for a 47-45 lead with 18 seconds left.

Matthew Berg then made a steal near midcourt and got it to Pudenz, who was fouled. Pudenz made 1 of 2 with 11.8 seconds left for a three-point lead.

The Wolves needed a 3-pointer to tie. The ball was deflected out along the sideline, giving them possession with 2.7 seconds left. Jerad Croghan's long-range try was well off the mark, and the Knights sprinted to center court and celebrated as if they'd won a state title.

Part of the joy was where they'd come from during the regular season. Part of it was where they'd come from in the game. And part of it was because it came against a neighborhood rival. IKM-Manning beat Kuemper 28-14 in the quarterfinal round of the football playoffs last fall, denying the Knights a chance to play in the UNI-Dome.

“I have tremendous respect for IKM-Manning,'' said Edwards in the interview room, as Wolves seniors Croghan, Irlbeck and Rick Blake stood dejectedly nearby. “We've kind of started a rivalry with them, and I'm just glad these IKM-Manning kids here are graduating. They've really stuck it to us the last couple years.''

For IKM-Manning, Blake finished with 16 points, eight rebounds and three blocks. The Wolves finished 13 of 28 (46.4 percent) from the line.
As euphoric as the Knights were, the flip side was that IKM-Manning ended with two losses after starting 25-0. In addition to the aforementioned three, the Wolves had five other seniors: starters Jarad Gaskill and Tyler Bruck along with Tyler Muhlbauer, Colten Ramsey and Matt Vogel.

As time wears on, Croghan hopes it will be easier to realize what the Wolves accomplished.

“Further down the road, we're going to look back and we're going to remember the great season we had, all the great times we've had down here,'' he said. “It's hard to lose your final two games as a senior, but we've had a lot of fun.''

IKM-Manning coach Keith Wagner said his seniors probably deserved to have a better feeling when they walked off the court for the last time.

“I feel for them,'' he said. “They were trying. They were doing the best they can, and I'm proud of them. They're a great group of eight guys, and I'd do anything for them.''

But this day belonged to the Knights, and especially their seniors. Henderson finished with five points and five rebounds in eight minutes. Greteman contributed a 15-foot jumper and two assists in his 13 minutes. Wiederin was 2 for 2 in his seven minutes, including a banked-in 3-pointer. And Wagner grabbed a rebound in his three minutes before exiting to loud cheers.

“It felt great,” Henderson said. “And we just knew that if we got the opportunity, we'd step up, and all four seniors really did.”

IKM-Manning (25-2)....................8 14 18 5 -- 45
Carroll Kuemper (17-12)...................13 9 7 19 -- 48
• IKMM: Bryce Irlbeck 2-8 5-8 9, Tyler Bruck 1-8 2-4 5, Jarad Gaskill 2-3 2-7 7, Rick Blake 7-10 2-4 16, Jerad Croghan 3-12 2-5 8, Tyler Muhlbauer 0-3 0-0 0, Matt Vogel 0-0 0-0 0, Colten Ramsey 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 15-44 13-28 45.
• CK: Bryce Berg 3-12 0-1 7, Taylor Pudenz 1-3 1-3 3, Cody Williams 2-7 0-0 5, Matthew Berg 3-6 3-5 9, Andrew Schleisman 1-1 3-4 5, Alex Wiederin 2-2 0-0 5, Michael Greteman 1-3 0-0 2, Kent Henderson 2-4 0-2 5, David Hicks 1-8 0-0 3, Carter Daniel 2-3 0-2 4, Kyler Ludwig 0-0 0-0 0, Alex Wagner 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 18-49 7-17 48.
• 3-point goals: IKMM 2-10 (Gaskill 1-2, Bruck 1-6, Croghan 0-1, Muhlbauer 0-1), CK 5-20 (Wiederin 1-1, Williams 1-2, Henderson 1-2, B. Berg 1-6, Hicks 1-7, Pudenz 0-1, Greteman 0-1). Total fouls: IKMM 18, CK 24. Fouled out: Gaskill, Williams, Daniel. Technical fouls: none. Rebounds: IKMM 31 (Blake 8), CK 41 (Schleisman, Daniel 8). Assists: IKMM 8 (Irlbeck 6), CK 6 (B. Berg, Greteman 2). Steals: IKMM 8 (Irlbeck 3), CK 6 (Daniel 2). Turnovers: IKMM 11, CK 14.

Contact the writer:

444-1055, kevin.white@owh.com

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