NICK THOMPSON, TRUMPET SPORTS EDITOR
The Wartburg Knights basketball team won their seventh conference game of the year against Loras College Wed. Jan 9 by a score of 86-83.
Davis Roquet and Jack Molstead led the team in scoring with 17 points apiece. Roquet also tied the school record for the best shooting performance with 100% field goal percentage.
The team has a 14-3 overall record, which is only four less than the previous two seasons combined. Senior leader, Keagan John, has contributed greatly to help get the Knights to the top of the American Rivers Conference.
“Some factors that contributed to our success is our discipline and attention to detail that starts from the coaches. We have been given great gameplans to follow and everybody trust in each other to hold their part of the deal. The chemistry we have is something that is very special here for our Wartburg basketball family,” John said.
John is averaging 11.2 points per game on 55% shooting, both of which are top three on the team. John, a senior from New Hampton, is also one of three captains. He along with Jack Molstead and Drew Olson, are all in the top four for scoring averages.
Dick Peth, who is in his 24th season as the Wartburg head coach, agreed with John’s sentiments about the team.
“Our team’s chemistry has been solid all season & our accountability has helped in earning wins. This team is very unselfish and willing to make the extra pass to get the best shot we can each possession. In most cases, we believe we have done a solid job in playing to our strengths,” Peth said.
The Knights have eight games left before the ARC conference tournament, but their sights are set on the rest of the regular season.
“Knowing our opponents’ strengths and weakness. Keep believing in each other on court to find the success we want. We need to keep that “chip” on our shoulder as, pre-season we were picked 7th in conference. We need to keep that mentality that we still have something to prove, and it will keep us leveled-headed,” John said.
“We always focus on our next opponent & don’t have discussions about teams we play down the road. We have really focused our energies on ourselves & paying more attention to detail than talking big picture and what the end of the season appears to look like,” Peth said.
The Knights are in action next against the University of Dubuque in Waverly at Levick Arena Wed. Jan 26 at 7:30 p.m.
Knight Wire 
Leave a Reply