No. 1 Vikings defeat Comets 69-40 in substate championship and Ben Klapperich’s final game as CC coach

By John Burbridge

sports@charlescitypress.com

CRESCO — The Charles City Comets have come a long way this season, from losing their first five games to leading the No. 1 team in the state at halftime of the Class 3A-Substate 3 championship game with a state berth on the line.

“Our guys just bought into it,” Comet head coach Ben Klapperich said. “They bought into what we were trying to do on the defensive side of the floor and on the offensive side of the floor.”

Facing a team they lost to twice during the regular season, the Comets took a 15-9 lead after scoring 10 unanswered points to start the second quarter and eventually led 24-23 at halftime while holding the Vikings’ 6-foot-7 sophomore sensation Cael LaFrentz scoreless.

But Decorah has a penchant for starting out slowly, and while taking advantage of numerous CC turnovers, outscored the Comets 46-16 in the second half to win the substate title by a score of 69-40.

Senior Ben Bockman scored a game-high 20 points, and LaFrentz — who didn’t score until 5:30 left in the third quarter — had 10 points and reached double-figures in rebounds for the Vikings (21-2), who will face Williamsburg in the Class 3A quarterfinals at 2 p.m. March 5 at Wells Fargo Arena.

Senior Keenan Wiley had 18 points, and senior Jack Hanson added 8 for the Comets (15-9).

When Viking senior Kaiden Quandahl made a behind-the-back layup after a mad scramble for a loose ball, it gave Decorah a 10-point lead (44-34) going into the final quarter.

Later, a 3-point basket by Zachary Driscoll which he immediately followed with a backcourt steal and layup helped extend the lead to 15 (49-34) less than a minute into the fourth.

The loss represented an end of an era for Charles City basketball as it was the last game of Klapperich’s tenure as head coach as he had accepted an athletic director position at Clear Lake.

“It’s an administrative position and it’s best for my family,” said Klapperich, who is married with a young child and now lives in Clear Lake. “I’ll be at Charles City for the rest of the school year, but I start July 1 at Clear Lake.”

In eight seasons at Charles City, Klapperich compiled an (unofficial) record of 115-65.

“You want to leave a program in a better place than when you took over,” Klapperich said. “I believe we did that here.”