Dupree turned it up in the second half to take down Arlington.
The Tigers defeated the Cardinals 71-63 in the first round of the State B boys' basketball tournament at Wachs Arena Thursday night. Dupree trailed 37-32 at halftime, but a second-half rally put the Tigers into the semifinals of the state tournament.
Coach (Jim Hood) came in and gave us a good talk and got us going, Dupree senior Nate Widow said about halftime.
Widow, in particular, got the Tigers going. The smooth guard tossed in a game-high 34 points to power the third-seeded Tigers to the win.
He made his shots, Arlington coach Michael Parry said. He got hot out there for a while. We knew he was going to have a lot.
He had a lot when it mattered most. Widow, who averages 25 points per game, had 18 at halftime. He then exploded for 14 points in the third quarter to help the Tigers take a 53-48 lead into the final period. He added eight rebounds and five assists. Widow's 34 points were six away from tying the tournament record for most points in a first round game, which was set by Louie Krogman in 2007.
He has been doing that all year and he stepped up to the challenge and did what he usually does, Hood said about Widow.
Dupree built its lead to as much as 64-55 with four minutes and 48 seconds left. The Cardinals crept back and cut the lead to 66-63 after an Andrew King three-pointer with 2:09 left. The Tigers then milked the clock for a minute before Seth Longbrake scored on a layup with 1:05 left. The Cardinals did not make another field goal the rest of the game as Dupree picked up the win.
We got a little bit out of hand in the second half there, Parry said, but what killed us was our free throws. We missed 13 free throws and you just can't win close ball games if you are missing 13 free throws.
Dupree's Kash Deal added 12 points, eight rebounds and four assists. Trenton Pretty Weasel and Tate Widow chipped in nine points apiece. King paced the Cardinals with 19 points. Zach Warnke added 13 points and hauled in 14 rebounds.
We have some guards that can get around their defenders, Parry said. We just tried to spread it and get it to the hoop as much as we could, which really worked well in the first half. We got a lot of fouls and got a lot of free throws out of it, but we just didn't convert on them and that caught up to us in the second half.
Arlington led 17-15 after the first quarter. The Cardinals led by as much as 37-28 late in the second quarter before the Tigers closed the first half on a 5-0 run to get within five at halftime.
At halftime, we thought we were fortunate just to be only five points down by the way we played in the first half, Hood said. I thought we just kind of gathered our group there and said that we have to come out and be a little stronger in the second half.
The two teams exchanged the lead five times in the third quarter before the Tigers went ahead 53-48 entering the fourth quarter and never trailed again.
We started off a little slow, Nate Widow said, but I guess throughout the game we executed and did what we needed to do.
Arlington (17-5) will play James Valley Christian at 1:45 p.m. today in the consolation semifinals of the state tournament.
It is going to be a battle, Parry said. We have to play a very good JVC team.
Dupree (23-1) will play Viborg-Hurley at 7:45 p.m. tonight in the championship semifinals of the state tournament.
This first one is really the hard one to win, Hood said. I'm sure we are going to be a little bit more relaxed (tonight). It should be a good game.
ARLINGTON: Lane Weber 3-9 1-2 9, Andrew King 8-17 1-3 19, Tage Hargens 3-11 2-7 8, Zach Warnke 4-5 5-7 13, Cole VanBockern 2-3 2-2 7, Tanner Lemme 1-2 0-2 2, Logan Kangas 0-0 0-0 0, Alex Heuer 2-4 1-2 5. Totals 23-51 12-25 63.
DUPREE: Trenton Pretty Weasel 4-9 1-2 9, Seth Longbrake 2-6 0-2 4, Nate Widow 15-28 1-4 34, Kash Deal 5-8 2-3 12, Jeffrie Shaving 1-6 1-2 3, Tate Widow 3-8 2-3 9, Hosteen Rave 0-0 0-0 0, Creighton LeBeau 0-1 0-0 0, Dayton Spiel 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 30-66 7-16 71.
Arlington (17-5)
17 37 48 63
Dupree (23-1)
15 32 53 71
3-point field goals - Arlington 5-17 (Weber 2-6, King 2-6, Hargens 0-4, VanBockern 1-1); Dupree 4-16 (Pretty Weasel 0-1, Longbrake 0-1, N. Widow 3-8, Deal 0-1, Shaving 0-1, T. Widow 1-4). Total fouls - Arlington 17; Dupree 18. Fouled out - Arlington, Warnke; Dupree, None. Rebounds - Arlington 39 (Warnke 14); Dupree 39 (N. Widow 8, Deal 8). Assists - Arlington 11 (King 6); Dupree 11 (N. Widow 5). Blocks - Arlington 2 (VanBockern 1, Heuer 1); Dupree 3 (Pretty Weasel 1, Shaving 1, T. Widow 1). Steals - Arlington 5 (Hargens 4); Dupree 13 (Pretty Weasel 4). Turnovers - Arlington 16; Dupree 10.