Falcons fight their way to state basketball berth

PARKERSBURG – The Aplington-Parkersburg boys basketball team fought off a mighty fourth-quarter challenge from Garner-Hayfield-Ventura for a 65-60 victory in a Class 2A substate final in Charles City on Monday night.

The Falcons advance to state for the sixth time in school history, with the last appearance coming in the 2014-2015 season.

"It took all eight of our guys that played, and every single person here tonight to get this done," A-P head coach Aaron Thomas said. "It's a complete community effort and I'm proud of my players."

A-P led 54-34 after three quarters before an improbable 23-6 run by the Cardinals, hammering the Falcons with defensive pressure that created easy buckets for G-H-V on the other end. The Cardinals got as close as 63-60 but sent Carter Cuvelier to the line for two free throws and turned the ball over on the ensuing possession.

"We knew it'd be a battle, they picked up the intensity," Cuvelier said. "They were defending, rebounding, we started turning the ball over but it's a substate game and you gotta expect it to become close. We're happy to get the W."

Cuvelier went over the 1,000-point mark for his career with an early bucket in the second quarter, finishing with 19 points and improving the junior's career total to 1,013 points.

"It means a lot but to be honest, I wasn't thinking about it at all," Cuvelier said of the career mark. "It's all about getting the win and getting down to state."

Alec Oberhauser added 19 points for the Falcons.

"I'm so happy for our kids," Thomas said. "There was so much time and effort in the summer to be committed to what we're doing. ... I'm so happy to be their coach and couldn't be prouder of our kids, coaching staff and what they did."

The full story will be in the Feb. 28 Eclipse.