MBB: North Coast Athletic Conference

Cali-Scot · March 12, 2011, 08:40:19 PM

FINAL FOUR FOR WOOSTER!

Congrats to Coach Moore, his staff and the Scots Basketball Team!

kiltedbryan · March 12, 2011, 08:57:05 PM

That was one of the best DIII games I've ever seen—congratulations to both teams on simply outstanding performances.

Wooster played its best game of the season and was better than Whitworth in the final 7 minutes to win the game. Whitworth is a tremendous basketball team with immense talent, and Michael Taylor is one of the best players I've ever seen in a DIII gym.

Congratulations to the Scots! What a win!!

WooMix · March 12, 2011, 09:32:06 PM

Fantastic result by the Scots! Am absolutely ecstatic! Hopefully I can make it 3/3 to Salem.

Hopefully this is the year we make the final and win it!

Go Scots!

ScotsFan · March 12, 2011, 10:07:52 PM

Quote from: kiltedbryan on March 12, 2011, 08:57:05 PM
That was one of the best DIII games I've ever seen—congratulations to both teams on simply outstanding performances.

Wooster played its best game of the season and was better than Whitworth in the final 7 minutes to win the game. Whitworth is a tremendous basketball team with immense talent, and Michael Taylor is one of the best players I've ever seen in a DIII gym.

Congratulations to the Scots! What a win!!

I echo everything you said bryan! This game not only lived up to the hype, but it surpassed it. A great game between two great teams and I think the home court and the fact that WW was playing so far from home pushed the Scots to the win!

I'm still in disbelief that this team is going to Salem! After watching WW dismantle a good Marietta team last night, I felt it would take a herculean effort by the Scots to get past this team and more specifically to try and contain Michael Taylor. As bryan said, he's one of the best DIII players I've ever seen and I've seen plenty of good ones just in Wooster unis alone.

But in the end, it was Wooster's defense that made the difference. Warnes is by far the defensive MVP and he did a hell of a job in trying to at least slow down Taylor (yes he still went off for 25 points but it took him 20 shots to get there). Oh, and the fact that Warnes dropped in 11 points including 3-4 from beyond the arc and a monster dunk to finish off a fantastic drive to the basket was just the icing on the cake!

Congrats to the Scots on yet another Final Four berth. The Scots hold true on their recent trend of Final Four appearances on a four year cyclical pattern. They made their debut appearance in 2003, followed that up in 2007. Now, it's their 3rd trip in 2011 and I'm hoping the 3rd time is the charm for Wooster and they can finish their business and bring home the Walnut and Bronze this time!

Cali-Scot · March 12, 2011, 10:14:32 PM

What do we know about our opponent next week?

ScotsFan · March 12, 2011, 10:21:41 PM

Quote from: Cali-Scot on March 12, 2011, 10:14:32 PM
What do we know about our opponent next week?

One word... REVENGE!!!

ohiofan1954 · March 12, 2011, 10:30:01 PM

congrations scots, great game wish I could have been at it. Good luck at the final four. Tonight all ohio fans of basketball should be proud of the scots and their great accomplishment. Congratulations to all the loyal fans of the scots also. I have been too many colleges and universities all over ohio, michigan, and indiana and wooster fans are the best. Nobody deserves this more.

david

wooscotsfan · March 12, 2011, 10:41:41 PM

Back to the Final Four for the Wooster Scots!

Great game at Timken tonight between two top teams. As Scotsfan noted, Wooster's DEFENSE was the big difference in this game as they held Whitworth's top two scorers to only 8 of 20 for Michael Taylor and only 4 of 13 for David Riley.

Whitworth averages 84 points per game and tonight, they only scored 66 because of the Scots defense!

The other key was three pointers and Wooster made 11 while holding the Pirates to only 8 (they average 10/game). Justin Warnes had an incredible game on defense and he drilled his 3rd three pointer with only 3:45 left in the game. It was a huge play because Whitworth had cut the Wooster lead to only 60-56. Warnes three pointer stretched the lead back to 7 points at 63-56 and Whitworth was forced into shooting desparation three pointers.

Wooster is now 30-2 and next faces Williams in a Final Four semi-final game!

GO SCOTS!

nescac1 · March 12, 2011, 10:53:32 PM

See you guys in Salem!!! Hoping for a repeat of 2003 ... not sure if the outcome will be the same, but I predict a similar level of drama. Two very good teams, led by all-Americans, surrounded by plenty of shooters, from the looks of things.

Williams has three elite players in Whittington (who is at worst a first-team all-American, and deserves national player of the year in my view -- at least in the discussion with Taylor, etc. -- his game vs. Virginia Wesleyan was one for the ages, although he did suffer a bit of an injury vs. Amherst which worries me), James Wang (a bit cold this weekend but a tremendous scorer from all over the court, and tough as nails), and Nate Robertson (much better than his stats might indicate, tremendous distributor and defender, the consumate glue guy but can take over when needed as shown vs. Amherst tonight). In addition, James Klemm has been playing at an elite level in the tourney, a great shooter / natural scorer when he gets it going, arguably the x-factor for the Ephs. The rest of the team are mainly role players who play tough D and (when the Ephs are clicking) hit open threes set up by the other guys. Rooke-Ley can get his own shot but as you'd expect from a frosh is up-and-down. Will be a star eventually.

Williams doesn't shoot it quite as well as last year's Final Four team, not as efficient offensively overall, but they are better defenders, more athletic, and tougher on the boards. I'd say the two Eph Final Four teams are basically even.

What is the scouting report on Wooster? Franks in particular sounds very tough, and it looks like Wooster can really shoot the three ball?

kiltedbryan · March 12, 2011, 11:04:01 PM

Quote from: ScotsFan on March 12, 2011, 10:07:52 PM
But in the end, it was Wooster's defense that made the difference. Warnes is by far the defensive MVP and he did a hell of a job in trying to at least slow down Taylor (yes he still went off for 25 points but it took him 20 shots to get there). Oh, and the fact that Warnes dropped in 11 points including 3-4 from beyond the arc and a monster dunk to finish off a fantastic drive to the basket was just the icing on the cake!

That was a great play, and I felt like it was important for keeping the Scots crowd in the game early, as Wooster had fallen behind and there was some apprehension. I very rarely buy the "statement" dunk idea, but I did feel that in this case it showed that there was going to be some great fight in Wooster tonight—and there was.

wooscotsfan · March 12, 2011, 11:27:12 PM

Quote from: nescac1 on March 12, 2011, 10:53:32 PM
What is the scouting report on Wooster? Franks in particular sounds very tough, and it looks like Wooster can really shoot the three ball?

Senior Ian Franks is Wooster's leading scorer but the Scots play a 9-10 man rotation and have excellent depth compared to most D3 teams. Franks usually starts the offense and he will find the open man if teams try to play help defense on him.

Senior Nathan Balch has scored over 1,000 points in his Wooster career (3 years) and he is Wooster's most accurate three point shooter. Junior Justin Hallowell is a 6'7" player who rebounds well and he also shoots 41% on three pointers. Hallowell has already scored over 1,000 points in his 3 seasons for the Scots. Senior Bryan Wickliffe is 6'5" but he defends very well against much larger post players and he is Wooster's leading rebounder. Wickliffe has also scored over 1,000 points in his 4 seasons at Wooster. Guard Matt Fegan is Wooster's 5th starter and he is also a three point shooter.

Off the bench, Wooster brings 6'7" Josh Claytor and 6'8" Jake Mays to back up the post players. Justin Warnes is Wooster's top defender vs. guards/wings and freshman guard Ryan Snyder has improved his game in the last half of this season.

wooscotsfan · March 13, 2011, 12:00:20 AM

Some excellent photos of Wooster's big win over Whitworth are already posted on the Scots website including Warnes' monster dunk and a team photo with "4 fingers" for the Final Four! Here is the link:
http://www.woosterathletics.com/sports/mbkb/2010-11/photos/0004/index

nescac1 · March 13, 2011, 09:14:45 AM

Thanks wooscotsfan. Williams and Wooster sound like pretty similar (and evenly matched) teams, actually. I think it should be a very competitive game. I see Wooster gets strong fan support, and it is a manageable trip to Salem, so I would guess that there will be a lot of your fans there. See you in Salem!

old scot · March 13, 2011, 09:53:14 AM

Congrats to the Scots on a great victory and run to the Final 4.

Bring home the schools first team National Championship!!!!!

wooscotsfan · March 13, 2011, 09:57:35 AM

Nice article in the Spokane Washington newspaper on Wooster's win over Whitworth. There are some very complimentary comments about Wooster from the Whitworth coach and players. Here is the link:
http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2011/mar/12/whitworth-men-beaten-wooster/

Wooster's win also got a brief mention in the Cleveland Plain Dealer this morning. Here is the link:
http://www.cleveland.com/sports/college/index.ssf/2011/03/wooster_advances_to_division_i.html