The Kouts Mustangs placed 2nd in 1A State Final on Saturday with a final score of 64-48.
INDIANAPOLISÂ â Kouts coach Kevin Duzan had to get something off his chest while sitting in-between his team s leaders, Cole and Cale Wireman, in a postgame press conference Saturday at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
The senior twins scored 21 points and 15 points, respectively, in the Mustangs first state final appearance, which ended in a 64-48 loss to Barr-Reeve. As disappointing as it was for them not be crowned Class A state champions, Duzan wanted to make sure his star seniors received their proper credit.
INDIANAPOLIS â Fifty-three seasons and over 1,100 games.
Never absent, never unavailable.
Every. Single. Contest.
Keith Nuest, a 1961 Kouts grad, has spent more than half of his life as his alma mater s boys basketball statistician.
On Saturday, the 78-year-old was finally able to see the Mustangs play for their first state title at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
Of course, he was keeping stats. You can count on him just like you can count on paying taxes every year, Kouts coach Kevin Duzan said. He s always going to answer the bell, and he s always going to be there.
Prior to the Mustangs Class A state final appearance, which ended in a 64-48 loss to Barre-Reeve, I spoke to Keith about his labor of love, which has helped him become a walking, talking almanac for not only Kouts but several other schools around Porter County and the Region.
Kouts, making its first state final appearance, had its chances against Barr-Reeve in the Class A state championship Saturday morning at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. After the Mustangs missed all six of their 3-point attempts in the first half, senior twins Cale and Cole Wireman jump-started the team in the third quarter.
Cale opened the period with a corner 3 in front of Kouts bench, and a few moments later Cole drained back-to-back 3-pointers to keep the Mustangs within striking distance. It just came to the fact that we had to just start shooting the ball and not think about it, Cale said. Once we hit two or three (shots) I thought, Well, we just need to keep shooting and keep in rhythm and we could easily win this game.
BOURBON â Kouts saw a different defense in Saturday s night Class A Triton Regional.
The host Trojans employed a triangle and two on the Mustangs top scorers, Cole and Cale Wireman. We just had to get our guys organized and get other guys to shoot the ball, Kouts coach Kevin Duzan said.
After trailing 12-9 after the first quarter, the No. 3 Mustangs outscored the Trojans 21-7 before halftime and pulled away for a 56-42 win and their third title in program history.
Kouts (28-2) won previous crowns in 1998 and 2001.
The Wireman brothers accounted for 48 points in the semifinal win over Fremont, but combined for only 17 in the nightcap.
WATCH NOW: Cole Wireman is Porter County's all-time leading scorer, adding to his family's legacy at Kouts nwitimes.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from nwitimes.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.