Already up 30, Solon head coach Jared Galpin knew he could turn to his bench to finish the game. While the Spartans were already in cruise control to victory, one senior entered the game and was in store for a moment he’ll remember forever.

Tyler Greazel heard his bench counting down in sync with the shot-clock. He had no choice but to put up a deep shot. Dribbling about five feet behind the three point line, he stepped back to create as much separation between him and his defender as he could and released. The moment the ball left his hands, the Solon bench raised to their feet ready to erupt.

Swish.

The breath-taking shot sent his teammates, coaches, and the entire Solon crowd into a frenzy in the late stages of Solon Boys’ Basketball’s 69-28 routing of the Independence Mustangs.

“I just let it fly,” Greazel said.

The shot came with 2:41 remaining in the fourth quarter to extend Solon’s lead to 40. It may have seemed like a meaningless basket. The outcome was decided over a quarter earlier. But for Greazel and anybody else in the gym sporting orange and black, it was everything.

It wasn’t luck, either. The senior had taken that shot in practice hundreds of times. When the opportunity came to do it in a game, he never had a doubt.

His teammate Tate McCollum on the other hand, had a different reaction.

“I was just mind-blown,” McCollum said with a beaming smile on his face. “He makes that shot in practice like he said, but I didn’t think he’d make it now.”

Solon head coach Jared Galpin couldn’t help but laugh while thinking about the shot following the game.

“That was great. Outstanding,” Galpin said. “So happy for him.”

While the minutes Greazel plays don’t always mean that much to the result of the game, they mean the world to him.

“It’s so much fun playing,” Greazel said. “It’s a great group.”

You don’t have to be on the court to impact the team, and Greazel knows that. The senior prides himself on his effort in practice and the energy he brings from the bench to support his teammates.

“Tyler’s a great teammate,” McCollum said. “You don’t usually get a player like him attitude-wise.”

“Tyler has a high basketball IQ,” Coach Galpin said. “He’s been a solid kid for all of his basketball career.”

In the early stages of the game, Greazel watched from the bench as Independence shot out to a 20-10 lead. However, an electrifying 17-point second quarter from McCollum gave the Spartans a 32-24 lead at halftime.

“Coach Galpin got onto us at the (first) quarter break,” McCollum said. “Then I just took the game into my own hands.”

It was smooth sailing from there for Solon, who opened up the third quarter on an 18-0 run, and only allowed four points from Independence the rest of the game.

“We responded, and that’s what good teams do,” Coach Galpin said.

McCollum ended with 20 points, 18 of which came from beyond the arc.

The Spartans traveled to the Casey’s Center in Des Moines the following day, where they suffered their second loss of the season to the hands of the Decorah Vikings, 59-55. The Vikings won the first period 14-10 but the Spartans charged back in the second for a slim 27-26 halftime lead. Solon trailed 38-35 going into the fourth, which ended in a 51-51 tie. The Vikings outscored the Spartans 8-4 for the overtime win.

Maddox Kelley led Solon with 16 points followed by 13 from Simon Einwalter, nine from Tate McCollum, eight from Grant Gordon, five by Ethan Ulch, and four from Kaden Hoeper.

Solon 87 West Delaware 38

Monday, Feb. 2, the Groundhog saw his shadow and the West Delaware Hawks saw a masterclass in high school basketball as the Spartans blasted West Delaware 87-38. The 20-6 first period quickly escalated to a 48-19 halftime lead and a 66-31 advantage going into the final eight minutes and a 21-point effort.

Tate McCollum led all with 22 points, Kaden Hoeper had 15 points with 11 from Grant Gordon, ten by Tyler Greazel, five from Simon Einwalter, four each by Maddox Kelley, Luke Merrick, Ethan Ulch, and Brody Woolley with three apiece from Brady Wick and Nicholas Stahle. Tanner Heims added two points in the contest as well.

IHSAA rankings

The Spartans started the week in the No. 8 spot in Class 3A in the Iowa High School Athletic Association’s sixth rankings for the season released Sunday, Feb. 1. Storm Lake was in the No. 1 spot at 13-1, Wahlert Catholic (Dubuque) was No. 6 (11-5) and Center Point-Urbana, who handed Solon their first loss this season, was No. 9 at 13-3