Memorable Central men’s basketball season ends in tourney
PELLA—Not even a massive 36-point eruption from center Joshua Van Gorp (junior, Pella, Pella Christian HS) could overcome an otherwise dismal shooting night for the top-seeded Central College men’s basketball team, dropping an American Rivers tourney semifinal to fourth-seeded Loras College 79-67 Thursday.
Loras (17-10) advances to Saturday’s final against sixth-seeded Coe College, another upset winner Thursday, knocking off the second-seeded University of Dubuque 78-73. The winner receives an NCAA Division III tournament berth.
Playing before a raucous P.H. Kuyper Gymnasium crowd, Central’s conference champs never led, staggering out of the gate and trailing 20-4 just over 6 minutes into the game. Central (18-7) was down by as many as 18 points in the first half.
“It was kind of a weird start,” coach Joe Steinkamp said. “A guy fell down on the first play that led to a turnover and a three right off the bat, then we missed a few free throws early on. I don’t think either team got into a great rhythm in the first half.”
Central shot an icy 29.6% from the field in the first half and a meager 47.4% from the free throw line.
It was a bruising affair, with 45 fouls called and bodies frequently crashing to the floor. Central’s uphill climb got even steeper in the second half as forward Grant Johnson (senior, Waukee, Van Meter HS) and guards Kaleb Brand (junior, Mount Vernon) and Nolan Brand (junior, Mount Vernon) all fouled out.
The Dutch clawed their way to within 38-29 at halftime and the crowd erupted when Central finally tied it 59-59 on a Van Gorp putback with 4:26 left. But a 5-0 burst put Loras back in command and Central couldn’t get closer than three the rest of the way.
Failing to hit a 3-point goal in the second half, the Dutch finished 4-of-24 (16.7%) from beyond the arc. So Central repeatedly looked to Van Gorp inside. Despite drawing two, and sometimes three defenders with every step, he still muscled his way to an 11-of-19 effort from the field, while hitting 14 of 20 free throws and grabbing 11 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the year.
“It was one of the most amazing performances you’re going to see, going against double teams,” Steinkamp said. “I mean, he draws so much contact on every play. But that’s why he’s the best player in the league.”
Van Gorp finished the year shooting 68.0% from the field. He ranked third in Division III entering the game.
Guard Drew Edwards (senior, Eden Prairie, Minn.) added 10 points and six rebounds. Kaleb Brand had nine points and Johnson, despite being limited to just under 17 minutes of playing time, passed out seven assists. The Dutch had 18 assists on 22 field goals for the night.
Loras outshot Central 41.7% to 37.3% overall and held a 43-42 rebounding advantage. But the Dutch, already the leading shot-blocking team in Division III with 6.0 per game, swatted nine more Thursday night. Van Gorp and guard Kade Terrell (5th-year, Montrose, Colo.) rejected three each.
“I thought we had chances to take the lead and go on a bigger run but Loras did a good job,” Steinkamp said. “They made a lot of plays. (Guard Declan Ciurlik) made some big shots. He’s been playing really well down the stretch. It was just one of those games.”
The setback doesn’t diminish the magnitude of what the Dutch accomplished under Steinkamp in his first season as head coach. Central was 7-17 a year ago and 4-12 in conference play and more of the same was expected by outsiders prior to the season as league coaches tabbed the Dutch for eighth place.
Instead, Central captured its 18th conference championship and recorded 18 wins, the most for the Dutch since the 2013-14 campaign.
“I’m really proud of these guys and really thankful to be able to coach them,” Steinkamp said. “They’ll always be champions and we have a lot of great memories. It’s really hard to do what they did and what they accomplished was really special.”
Van Gorp averaged a team-high 17.5 points with 7.6 rebounds for the year. Terrell averaged 12.0 points while Johnson scored 11.1 with 8.4 rebounds and a school-record 69 blocks.
While much of the squad is expected to return next year, Terrell, a three-time Hustle Award winner, is among those who won’t.
“Kade was one of the best leaders I’ve ever coached,” Steinkamp said. “He had a great senior year and we’ll be talking about him for years to come. I look forward to seeing him do good things as a teacher here in the Pella community.”
Others who closed college careers include guard Jalen Wilmington (senior, Chicago, Ill., Crete Monee HS), forward Bradon Annegers (senior, Stronghurst, Ill., West Central HS) and forward Colin MacGregor (senior, Macomb, Ill.).
While a memorable debut season has closed for Steinkamp, he’s confident even bigger things lie ahead.
“We’ve got a great group of guys, we look forward to building on this and getting back to work,” he said. “This league is always going to be challenging and we can’t ever be satisfied. But I’m confident, with the culture of our team, that we’ll be back. We have a lot of tough-minded guys and good leaders who love basketball. I’m sure a lot of them will be back in the gym already tomorrow. That’s why we had the type of year we did.”
