DES MOINES — Rarely does a team come away from the state tournament with the outcome that they were hoping for.
For the Union Knights, their 2024-2025 season came to an end on Tuesday night to a buzzsaw team in West Lyon, 81-50 in the first round of the 2A basketball tournament at Wells Fargo Arena.
The Wildcats raced out to an early 15-2 lead behind a 13-0 run in the first four minutes of the game. West Lyon would go on to take a 24-11 lead at the first quarter break.
Union struggled in the second quarter to keep their opponent out of the paint, leading to an astonishing 60% shooting from the ‘Cats in the first half and a 45-19 lead.
West Lyon kept their foot on the gas in the third quarter to take a 64-36 lead before winning 81-50.
“We never stopped competing,†head coach Eric Jesse said. “That’s the main thing. That was a very quick team that we had a tough time getting in front of there and they got in the paint and made good things happen. They were just a better team than we are right now.
“We played hard, had a great run in the season and we have nothing to be mad or upset about. We played hard and did everything the right way this season, whether that be day one of the season or tonight. We played hard, gave ourselves a chance and did the little things right.â€
Caden Sorensen led the Knights in scoring with 12 points, the lone player in double-figures. The only senior on the team, Eric Neipert, ended his career for Union with four points and a team-leading nine rebounds.
Getting hit in the mouth as a young team in the first state tournament appearance for the school in 17 years could be the catalyst for a deep run in the future.
“Hopefully it makes them hungry and gets them to realize that being down here is a great accomplishment, but ultimately everyone’s goal is to win a state title,†Jesse said. “We still have some work to do to get better on both sides of the court and overall just get better. Especially when it’s a one-and-done type of season down here, the environment down here is great. Maybe the lights were a little bright at the beginning and hopefully that translates into our summer program and next season.â€
All year long, the Knights have had a vacant number 12 jersey on their bench and even in the non-starters announced on Tuesday for their teammate, Gavin Rohrbach, who passed away in the fall during a car accident. In a season where they were honoring Rohrbach all the way down to green Nike shoes for the Philadelphia Eagles, his favorite team, Union was able to honor every player on their team by getting them on the floor in the final minutes of the game.
While the outcome wasn’t what Union wanted it to be, there are still things to be happy about with the experience.
“We had one senior, a lot of freshmen and junior on the team this year,†Jesse said. “I told them that not many people, a lot of really good players in Iowa basketball history haven’t been able to step on that court and play in the state tournament. I’m hoping that they realize that we’ve done some really special things this year.â€
Union closed the year with a 17-10 record, their best season since that state tournament qualifying team in 2008-2009.
