Boys basketball: DePue climbs close, Jonathan Moore-led Woodland pulls away for first win

DEPUE – A wild first half that saw 29 fouls called, 30 combined turnovers and the Woodland Warriors building a comfortable 11-point lead over the host DePue Little Giants on Tuesday gave way to just as wild a start to the third quarter.

Brock Coates, then Oscar Lopez, then Luis Lopez connected on three straight 3-point attempts for DePue, followed by a Jonathan Garcia bucket off a nice-look Luis Lopez assist that drew the hosts within three points and the Little Giants fans to joyous applause 3 1/2 minutes into the half.

With all that craziness going on, Warriors junior Jonathan Moore decided to get a little crazy himself.

Moore scored eight straight third-quarter points for Woodland on his way to a game-high 27, halting the Little Giants’ rally and silencing the DePue faithful. As a result, the Warriors (1-4) pulled away for a 60-38 victory – their first of the young season – against their former conference rival DePue (1-3).

“What the coaches have taught us is when things get rough, get in a quick huddle, calm down, get together as a team and get a quick basket,” Moore said. “Just get back in the flow and calm down.

“[Getting that first victory] feels amazing. This was a good win. We needed it.”

In addition to his 27 points before heading to the bench with 2:30 to play and his team ahead by 20, Moore posted a team-high in assists (four, one ahead of Nick Plesko’s three) while tying Carter Ewing for the team lead in steals with four and Brayden Follmer for the team lead in rebounds with six.

“[DePue] hit some tough shots and crawled back in, and Jon was kind of our safety blanket there,” Warriors coach Connor Kaminke said. “We needed a spark, and Jon Moore did it for us.”

“When we got it to 36-33, I think it was, No. 2 [Moore] scored eight straight points,” DePue coach Trae Blumhorst said. “That’s just inexperience. That’s [us being] a young team not quite understanding the best player’s going to try to take over there.”

With so many fouls and turnovers committed on both sides – especially DePue’s – the first half was a slog. It was a slog the Warriors were winning, however, led by Moore’s all-around play and the sharpshooting of Tucker Hill (eight points in the first half on his way to 13 for the game) and Connor Dodge (five points in the first quarter on his way to 10).

By halftime, it was Woodland 31, Little Giants 20.

The hosts pieced together the third-quarter rally to climb to within 36-33, though. Despite battling 34 turnovers on the night, the Little Giants were led by Luis Lopez’s nine points and six rebounds before fouling out with 3:18 to play, Oscar Lopez’s eight points and six rebounds before fouling out with 1:38 remaining, and Jonathan Garcia’s six points before fouling out in the third quarter. Brock Coates added a five-point, eight-rebound performance.

“We made a plan at halftime,” Blumhorst said. “We were trying to slow it down and be patient. We talked about not dribbling once we caught it, and we stayed to it ... but [those mistakes] are just coming from being a young team. At the end of the game, we finished with four sophomores and a freshman. They’re going to learn.

“But to see them coming back in the third, it was huge for some of those younger guys to see a game plan and how it kind of follows through.”

Led by Moore’s third-quarter heroics, Woodland overcame its own 18 turnovers and exactly as many fouls to notch its first win.

“I’ve been around basketball every winter of my life since kindergarten,” Kaminke said. “That was probably the most bizarre game I’ve ever been to, from start to finish. ... At the end of the day, as crazy as that game was, I’m just happy to get out of here with a win.”