Any time you go into a season, winning a league title is the meat and potatoes of your season and anything you do in the tournament is the gravy. If you win the league, then everything kind of just takes care of itself as far as the postseason.

It's really a credit to (senior) Austin Stiles because he was kind of the one displaced by Matt. You would think some kids would have become bitter, but Austin is one of the most positive people you'll ever meet. He saw Matt as a benefit to the team.

They've played some great competition -- they haven't blown anybody out -- but they haven't been blown out by anybody, either. They kind of play to the level of their competition, and I feel like they'll come out and play really hard against us.

They just responded to our defense and settled down with their possessions.

That's our story all year long. We come out and we play good defense in the first half. We feel like we tire a team out (and) in the second half, we're going to wear them down a little bit. I think their legs were a little tired in the second half. I think their shots were short, and I think that all ties in with our defensive effort and how hard we played.

Daniel has improved on several areas of his game from last season. He's just taking the ball to the basket more effectively and hitting his foul shots more effectively.

It?s a tremendous amount of pride for me. I love coaching these boys. They play so hard day in and day out.

They're dangerous. All three of their guards are solid, and any one can hurt you on any given day.

This is a very special group because they are very unselfish and everyone really understands their roles. The biggest thing with this group is just winning the ballgame. The team goals always supersede the individual goals.

They've been our go-to guys all year. And I thought they played really well in the second half.