Waverly-Shell Rock Boys Win State Quarterfinal Game

Waverly-Shell Rock has advanced to the Class-3A semifinals of the Boys State Basketball Tournament for a second-straight year. The defending champion Go-Hawks moved on with a 67-58 victory over Grinnell in the state quarterfinals Tuesday night (March 11, 2014).

Waverly-Shell Rock ended the game on a 12-3 run.

The Go-Hawks will play Central Clinton of Dewitt on Thursday at 8:15 p.m. for the right to advance to the state championship game. Both teams are 22-3 overall.

Free throw shooting sparked Waverly-Shell Rock's game-ending run. Sophomore Camry Moore's charity shot with 3:22 remaining in the game broke a 55-all tie and put the Go-Hawks ahead to stay. Waverly-Shell Rock made 12-of-15 free throws in the final 3:30 to seal the victory.

Junior Jake Velky scored 18 points to lead three Waverly-Shell Rock players in double-figures. Senior Sean Westendorf added 17 points and senior Dan Stensland chipped in 17 points. Grinnell senior Eli Dunne ended his career with a double-double, scoring a game-high 22 points and grabbing a game-high 11 rebounds for the Tigers, who end their season at 17-8. Junior Nate Vosburg also tallied double-figures for Grinnell, scoring 11 points.