Warriors Defeat Tigers in Double Overtime

The January 5th matchup between the Waukee Warriors and the Valley Tigers may have been the best of the 2023-’24 season. Following the winter break, the Warriors’ first game back was against a fellow top 10-seeded team: the Valley Tigers. With both teams winning three out of their last four games and being ranked inside of the top 10, this was a critical matchup. Although the teams would meet again later on in the season, it was still a very important game to set the tone for the next time they would face off. 

The game started relatively slow, with the Tigers getting their first bucket nearly three minutes into the game, and Waukee got their first bucket almost five minutes into the game. Both teams would start to catch fire at the end of the quarter, scoring a combined 17 points within the last 2 minutes and 50 seconds. But the Tigers would keep gaining momentum and score 19 points compared to the Warriors’ 7 points in the whole second quarter. However, within the first few minutes of the second half, the Warriors started to rally and soon enough they were only trailing by six. 

Waukee started to cut the lead more and more as the 4th quarter progressed and soon, what was a 15-point game was now a four-point lead with 3 minutes left in the fourth quarter. Sophomore Evan Jacobson played a huge role during the fourth quarter of the game, scoring 11 points in the fourth quarter along with multiple important rebounds. Jacobson’s effort during the fourth quarter along with many of his teammates’ helped boost momentum and send the game into overtime. The first few minutes of OT number one was unlike the first four quarters of the game, with both teams fighting for the lead until the Tigers were up by three with around 40 seconds remaining. Waukee Senior Mason Costello then completed a 3-point play, tying the game up once again. Time expired shortly after as the teams prepared for double overtime. 

A total of 17 points were scored by the two teams during the last four minutes of the game, all of which were 3-pointers, besides Valley Junior Xzavion Robinson’s mid-range jump shot to go up against the Warriors with a mere 0.5 seconds remaining. Waukee Sophomore Jaishon White had this to say about the shot, “I was just shocked to be honest because I know he would’ve gamed us if we hadn’t called a timeout.” The Warriors marched back onto the floor with little to no time remaining in the game, surely not enough time to get the ball down the court…right? The ball was inbounded to Mason Costello. Costello then took two steps toward the hoop and released the ball around half-court. The ball sailed in the air as the buzzer went off and banked in. Mason expressed his feelings about the shot, “I was just relieved that we were able to get a big-time win and show everyone how gritty our whole team is…We enjoyed the moment as a team but nothing has changed, we’re the same team and we have the same goal as before which is a State Chip.” The Warriors look forward to their next face-off with the Tigers, as it is sure to be another good one.