Sophomore Trent Koger led the Arlington boys basketball team in scoring again Monday night at Wahoo High School.
The Eagles were held to less than 30 points for the seventh time during their season-ending loss to Wahoo Neumann, but the 6-foot-6 forward notched 10 in the 48-28 Class C1 Subdistrict 4 Tournament game.
Despite coach Tyler Spitser's team's struggles during the 6-18 season, Koger was a bright spot. He led the team in scoring and rebounds in what was his first year in the varsity lineup every night.
“I thought it went pretty well,” the sophomore said. “I'm hoping it'll just continue to get better.”
The first period went well for AHS on Monday, too. Koger hit a pair of 3-point shots and a floater in the lane as the Eagles held an 8-7 advantage through eight minutes with the Cavaliers (13-10 overall).
“I would say them switching from man to zone (defense) kind of tripped us up,” the sophomore said. “We were scoring a lot against their man and then they switched right away.”
Still, Spitser's squad trailed just 20-14 at halftime and 24-20 midway through the third period. Kieryn Grothe and Oliver Ladehoff hit two more Arlington 3-pointers during the stretch, while Weston Wollberg completed a second-quarter three-point play with a free throw.
Overall, the Eagles hit six 3-pointers against Neumann with Darren Olson and Tyler Ott adding their own later. It wasn't enough to keep the Cavs from pulling away, though.
Neumann led 40-25 during the fourth period when 6-foot-6 junior Connor Schutt added the exclamation point. He stole the ball from the Eagles and finished a one-man fast break with a one-handed slam dunk.
In the end, the Cavaliers advanced into the subdistrict's second round against their hometown rivals, the Wahoo Warriors, while AHS said goodbye to its two seniors — Olson and Wollberg.
“They meant a lot to us, especially that they were the two that stuck it out out of their class,” Koger said.
Next time the Eagles' leading scorer plays a varsity game, the two 12th-graders won't be there. He, however, hopes to be “bigger” and “quicker.”
AHS BASKETBALL LINE SCORE
Monday
Wahoo Neumann 48, Arlington 28
AHS (6-18) 8 6 9 5 — 28
WN (13-10) 7 13 16 12 — 48
Scoring: AHS — Trent Koger 10, Weston Wollberg 5, Oliver Ladehoff 4, Kieryn Grothe 3, Tyler Ott 3, Darren Olson 3.
WN — Connor Schutt 14, Turner Ahrens 11, Aaron Spicka 10, Andrew Vech 4, Henry Stuhr 4, Jacob Rezac 3, Kanon Cada 2.
