Gerleman chases state title

DES MOINES — A quarter century ago, Creston fans packed the high school gym on basketball game nights to watch the high-scoring state championship team led by all-state guards Kyle McCann and Ben Gerleman.

The 1997 Class 3A state champs nearly won back-to-back titles, falling 62-60 to eventual champion Western Christian in the state semifinals. The Panthers rolled past Oskaloosa in the third place game, 95-82.

The following year the Panthers finished their business, concluding a 23-1 season with a 74-57 victory over Pella in the title game. McCann and Gerleman were co-captains of the all-tournament team and Creston also won the Sportsmanship Award, with a sea of red filling much of Veterans Memorial Auditorium.

As the team bus entered Creston on their way home, players and coaches saw cars lined up for blocks on the way to the high school, where a late-night pep rally was held. Fans honked their horns and flashed their lights as the bus passed by to show their appreciation for bringing the championship trophy home to Creston.

Fast forward 25 years and Ben Gerleman is trying to duplicate some of those special memories for his Central Lyon team, which includes his son, Mason, a senior in the Lions starting lineup. Gerleman had coached George-Little Rock to a state title in 2006 and runner-up finish in 2008, but had not taken Central Lyon to state until this year, his 12th season at the school.

After Monday’s 68-34 quarterfinal win over Red Oak to open the Class 2A tournament, Mason Gerleman said it is an exciting time for fans of the school based in Rock Rapids. A familiar school had often been the thorn in their postseason drive.

“We’ve never been down here,” he said. “Last year we lost to Western Christian in the district final. But we’ve always felt we’ve had a good group with this year’s seniors, and then you add guys like Zach (Lutmer) and Andrew (Austin).”

Lutmer, a 6-2 junior, leads the team with a 20.4 scoring average and Gerleman averages 17.7 points.

Gerleman had a team-high 18 points in Monday’s victory, making all seven foul shots and grabbing six rebounds. Much like his father, he has good size for a guard (6-2) and is confident with the ball in scoring or finding open teammates.

Central Lyon plays a fast-paced style, averaging 75 points a game, which is similar to Creston’s most recent championship season. (Creston has won state titles in 1939 and 1997.)

“We can be a really good defensive team, but we really score,” Ben Gerleman said. “We want to score 70 points. That’s kind of how our (Creston) team played in high school. We felt like we were going to go out and score 75 or 80 points and you’d have to do that to keep up. These guys are like that in a sense.”

Central Lyon went on a 14-0 run Monday to open the second half and extend a 37-22 halftime lead to 51-22.

“These guys are kind of like our Creston team in that if we score three times in a row in a spurt we may just score 10 times in a row once they get a run going. In the third quarter today we just slammed the door, and that felt kind of like playing at Creston.”

Ben was coached by his father, Mike Gerleman, at Creston. Now, he and wife Nicole are in the parental roles as daughter Mariah is a sophomore and played on the state runner-up Central Lyon team last week. This week, Mason is vying for a championship in his final season.

Ben Gerleman sa

id his son hopes to play college basketball. Mason is also a state tournament golfer.

After Monday’s game, reporters asked Ben Gerleman if it was harder to play for a state title or collegiate national championship, or coach a team at the state tournament.

“All of them are stressful in their own way,” Ben Gerleman said. “It’s way easier to play. As a coach, I get them ready and once the game starts it’s on them and they should get all of the credit. I hope they realize how special this time is. Our goal was to be one of four. We made it, so now our goal is to be one of two.”

Pella Christian defeated Roland-Story 69-62 and will face Central Lyon at 10:30 a.m. Thursday in one 2A semifinal game. Rock Valley, which is seeded second behind Central Lyon and split two games with the Lions during the regular season, advanced with a 75-61 victory over Jesup. Their opponent will be Monticello, a 56-43 winner over Mid-Prairie.

The 2A championship game will be played at 3 p.m. Friday and televised on KDSM-Fox 17. Also, the Iowa High School Sports Network is broadcasting every game of the tournament through streaming options via www.ihssn.com/live. Games are also televised on Mediacom’s MC22.