By NATHAN OSTER
On the first day of practice last November, Matt Davidson was a first-year head coach and his Burlington Huskies were trying to learn from their painful memories of coming up short at last year’s state tournament.
“We talked that day about being finishers,” said Davidson. “We knew what the dream was and had been since the boys were in junior high. They wanted to win a state championship.”
And that, the Huskies did, over the weekend in Casper, beating Arvada-Clearmont, Little Snake River and St. Stephens to capture their school’s sixth State 1A title and first since 2006.
“It took some effort to come together as a team,” said Davidson. “But that was our main focus throughout the year — to become a team that worked together like a well-oiled machine. At the regional and at state, we played team ball.
“We were able to finish up the way we wanted to and I’m really proud of the kids.”
Burlington’s road to the state title began with a matchup against Arvada-Clearmont, the No. 4 team from the East.
It was no contest, as the Huskies raced out to a 23-8 lead and led by as many as 53 points before posting the 74-25 win.
“It was a good one to get the jitters out because we only had a few kids who had ever been on the floor of the Casper Events Center,” said Davidson. “It was good to get that win, and for all of them to get on the court and experience it.”
Sam Davidson connected for 14 and Eric McNiven 10 to spark the Huskies to the win.
Little Snake River, a team that had been ranked for much of the season, awaited in the semifinals.
“We knew they were good,” said Davidson. “Well-rounded, fundamentally sound, quick and good shooters. We knew we’d have to play well to get past them.”
The coach said the key was the way the Huskies contained Daniel Wille. “He finished with quite a few points (22), but overall I thought we contained him pretty well,” Davidson said.
Luckily for him, he had a couple of hot hands of his own in Tim Davidson and Eric McNiven.
McNiven missed just four shots all night, hitting 10 of 13 from the floor and 6 of 7 from the line en route to a 26-point total. Davidson was nearly as good, hitting 11 of 21 from the field, 3 of 4 from the line and finishing with 25.
“I think Tim had his best game of the season that night,” Davidson said. “He dominated inside, and Eric had a great game too.”
In the state title game, the Huskies met a team in St. Stephens they had faced and beaten three times.
“We knew it would be hard to beat a team four times in a row — and especially a good team,” Davidson said. “We knew they’d make adjustments … and they played us tougher the fourth time than they had any of those other times.”
St. Stephens scored the first six points of the game, but the Huskies — behind the hot hand of Ammon Howard — closed the quarter with a 16-2 run. Keeping the pressure on, the Huskies built their lead at one point to 18, 32-14, before the Eagles began chipping away at it.
When 1A’s leading scorer, Jay Brown (Conference Player of the Year), got hot in the second half, the Eagles were able to pull to within four before the Huskies regrouped and notched the 61-48 win.
“We were a little tired, I think, from the hard night before,” said Davidson. “And Jay Brown was shooting really well; they had made some adjustments to help him get open, and I thought he played more confidently than he had in the previous games.”
Davidson was able to get the Huskies back on track by reminding them of how they built the lead on the Eagles. “We had mismatches inside, and we had to keep rebounding,” he said. “And on offense, we wanted to be a little more patient, rotate the ball, look inside, back it out … and go back to doing the things that worked so well for us early in the game.”
When the final horn sounded, the Huskies celebrated a 13-point win.
McNiven was a force, collecting 20 points. Howard finished with 14, followed by Tim Davidson with 13 and Sam Davidson with 11.
Reflecting on his first season at the helm, Davidson said, “I had a lot of fun working with the kids, but it’s a lot more work than I realized being a head coach. You have to keep up with statistics, prepare, watch the game films … all that kind of stuff. It takes a lot of time.
“And I always decided that there’s a little bit of luck involved. After that regional game when we lost four kids in one half … our dreams could have gotten shut down real quick if any of those injuries had been more serious.”
Arvada 8 4 6 7 — 25
Burlington 23 16 13 22 — 74
BURLINGTON — Tim Davidson 4-10 0-0 8, Zach Lash 2-5 0-0 4, Spencer Jones 4-7 1-2 9, Landon Tolman 1-4 0-0 2, Sam Davidson 6-9 1-3 14, Eric McNiven 4-7 2-4 10, Anson George 2-4 0-0 4, Shawn Christiansen 2-7 3-4 7, Kurt McIntosh 3-4 0-0 6, Daniel Davidson 2-5 0-0 4, Porter Jones 1-3 0-0 2, Ammon Howard 2-10 0-0 4. Totals 33-75 7-13 74.
3-POINT GOALS — S. Davidson. REBOUNDS — Burlington 45 (T. Davidson 8). STEALS — Burlington 19 (S. Davidson 6). TURNOVERS — Burlington 8.
Snake River 12 16 17 9 — 54
Burlington 17 16 16 13 — 62
BURLINGTON — T. Davidson 11-21 3-4 25, S. Jones 0-3 0-1 0, S. Davidson 3-4 0-1 6, McNiven 10-13 6-7 26, Christiansen 1-7 3-7 5, Ammon Howard 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 25-50 12-20 62.
REBOUNDS — Burlington 41 (S. Davidson 12). STEALS — Burlington 7 (McNiven 3). TURNOVERS — Burlington 18.
St. Stephens 8 11 18 11 — 61
Burlington 16 17 10 18 — 48
BURLINGTON — T. Davidson 4-12 5-6 13, S. Jones 0-3 0-0 0, S. Davidson 5-10 1-3 11, McNiven 7-12 6-9 20, Christiansen 1-6 1-3 3, D. Davidson 0-1 0-0 0, P. Jones 0-3 0-0 0, Howard 5-8 0-0 14. Totals 22-55 13-21 61.
3-POINT GOALS — Howard 4. REBOUNDS — Burlington 45 (S. Davidson 11). STEALS — Burlington 9 (S. Davidson 3). TURNOVERS — Burlington 15.