Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Monday’s games (March 1)
Girls

2A substate quarterfinals

Oskaloosa 43, Lyndon 38
• The Bears outscored Lyndon, 12-4, in the fourth quarter to win and improve to 14-7. Sophomore Haley Pfau scored 23 and junior Hailey Kelly scored 14 in the win. They were set to play Lebo in Thursday’s semifinals in Lebo.

Lebo 59, Valley Falls 37

• The Dragons finished 8-13. Junior Abbey Kearney led the way with 12 points in the loss.

4A substate quarterfinals

Perry-Lecompton 59, Atchison 30
• The Kaws improved to 11-9 and moved into the semifinals versus Royal Valley Thursday on their home court in Hoyt. Junior Abbey Bays led the Kaws with 14 points, sophomore Natasha Carver scored 13 and senior Jessica Christman scored 10 in the win.

Hiawatha 46, Jefferson West 43

• A 15-4 third quarter gave West a lead they couldn’t hold as the Tigers’ season ended at 7-14. Senior BriAnna Ploude led the Tigers with 12 points.

Boys

3A substate quarterfinals

KC Christian 56, McLouth 18

• The Bulldogs finished the season 4-19. Sophomore Shawn Dailey led McLouth with 8 points.

Kaw varsity swept by Santa Fe Trail

by Kenneth Lassiter
For one Perry-Lecompton varsity basketball team, it was a rough end to a good season. For the other, it was just another rough ending, as the Kaw varsities were swept by Santa Fe Trail on the final night of the regular season Friday in Perry.

The Kaw girls started the season 8-1 but finished with a 10-9 record after Friday’s 32-24 loss to Trail. Despite the late-season swoon, the record marks the first winning Kaw campaign and first 10-win campaign since the 1990s. The Kaw boys, on the flip side, have taken their lumps this season. A good effort went for naught Friday with a 60-57 loss to Trail to drop the Kaws to 2-18 to end the regular season.


The girls’ varsity game was a struggle for both teams at times. Perry-Lecompton would pull close only to see the Chargers stretch the lead out, until Trail finally came away with the 8-point win.


The game was tied at 3 more than halfway through the first quarter when SFT senior Korbynn Stallbaumer hit a 3-pointer and senior Megan Fischer hit a jumper to give the Chargers an 8-3 lead entering the second quarter.


The Kaws went nearly five minutes of game play before senior Emma Gantz broke their scoring drought with a jumper at the 6:02 mark of the second quarter. The Perry-Lecompton offense started to show some signs of life thereafter as two more Gantz scores cut the Trail lead to 12-11 with 3:24 left in the half. That was all the scoring they’d get, though, as the Chargers took a 14-11 lead into the locker room at halftime.


Trail started the second half with a 3-pointer from senior Shara Luther but Gantz and senior Jessica Christman hit shots to end another long Kaw scoring drought and cut the lead to 2 at 17-15 Trail. The Kaws cut the lead to 1 twice but Santa Fe Trail scored the final 4 points of the third quarter to take a 24-19 lead into the final period.


Frustrated with his team’s play, Kaws coach Justin Mayer would pull the starters with 5:30 left in the game only to send them back into the game less than a minute of gameplay later as Trail held a 6-point lead. The Kaw offense couldn’t score, however, as Trail’s lead reached 9 points at its pinnacle. The Kaws would only have 2 points in the final 3:08 as Trail took home the 32-24 victory.


Gantz led the Kaws in scoring with 8 points. Mayer said after the game he was glad to have a home game Monday for the first round of substate but the late part of the season hasn’t gone well for his team.


“It’s pretty cool that we get a home game in the first round of substate,” he said. “I don’t know if we’ve had one of those in a long time. We’ll try to make the most of it. The second half of our season has been pretty tough. I thought we looked sleepy out there tonight. We just can’t knock down shots right now. It’s become frustrating for us. We’ve got to have people who are confident enough to take good shots and make something happen.


“It’s been our best season in a while but I hope the girls aren’t satisfied with that. We’ve had six of our losses at 5 points or less. We have to figure out how to pull out these close games.”


The Kaws are the second seed in the Royal Valley 4A substate and were set to play host to Atchison on Monday.


Trail boys 60,

Perry-Lecompton 57

A frustrating regular season ended with a good effort Friday for the Kaw boys as they surged back from a big halftime deficit to have the ball with a chance to tie the game at the final buzzer.


The game was even through the early few minutes until Trail started to edge away on the scoreboard. A baseline 3-pointer by Kaw senior Kameron Hurd gave the Kaws the lead at 8-5 but Charger junior Dalton Abel hit a jumper and then converted a 3-point play to swing the lead to Trail. The Chargers ended the quarter on a 13-2 run as junior Anthony Perry hit a putback at the buzzer to make the score 18-10 Trail entering the second quarter.


Trail would stretch the lead in the second quarter thanks in part to a stifling press defense. Senior Logan Hurd hit an early 3-pointer for the Kaws to cut the lead to 7 but an 11-3 run increased the Chargers’ lead to 15. The lead eventually reached 19 as Trail senior Jason Lee got a steal on the press and hit a short jumper to make it 37-18 SFT. Kameron Hurd hit a 3-pointer with 1:35 left in the half but the Chargers would go to the locker room with a 39-21 lead at the half.


The Kaws began to chip away at the lead in the third quarter. Kameron Hurd hit another 3-pointer to start the scoring and senior Brad Phillips hit a 3-pointer to cut the lead to 10 at one point. Senior Shelby Politte scored off an offensive rebound with 3:19 left in the quarter to cut the lead to single digits at 44-35 but Trail would stretch it back to 13 at 48-35 entering the fourth quarter.


The Kaws kept on the offensive pressure as they started to beat the Trail press consistently. Politte scored off a Phillips pass on the Kaws’ first possession of the fourth quarter and it took more than two minutes of game time before Kameron Hurd drilled another 3-pointer to cut the lead to 10 with 5:41 left in the game. Another trifecta from Kameron Hurd cut the lead to 7 with 4:40 to play and, after a jumpball gave the ball back to Perry-Lecompton, senior Riley Shafer hit a baseline jumper to cut the lead to 5 at 55-50.


Trail began to stall on offense as Perry-Lecompton didn’t get the ball back until the 1:48 mark after two free throws from Trail senior Jesse Bahner. Politte scored with 1:02 left after a missed free throw by Chargers senior Stuart Kraus, and Shafer and Logan Hurd teamed up for a steal and Shafer lay-in to cut the lead to 3 at 57-54 with 44 seconds left in the game. Bahner hit 2 more free throws with 39 seconds left and the Kaws missed a chance to cut back into the lead as Lee pulled down a defensive rebound. He would hit only 1 of 2 free throws after being fouled and Politte nailed a 3-pointer with 7 seconds left to cut the lead to 60-57.


The Kaws got a key stroke of fortune on the ensuing inbounds play as the Trail inbounds pass sailed out of bounds to give the Kaws the ball on their offensive end with 2.1 seconds left. Shafer was fouled on an inbounds play with 1 second left, and Kameron Hurd took the ensuing inbounds pass but his desperation 3-pointer missed the mark as Trail escaped, 60-57.


Kameron Hurd finished his final home game as a Kaw with 17 points while Politte scored 16 points in the losing effort.


The loss brought the Kaws’ regular season to an end at 2-18. They entered substate play at Hoyt as the eighth seed and were set to play top seed Pleasant Ridge Tuesday in Easton.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Bulldog girls get comeback win over Oskie

The McLouth Bulldog varsity girls’ basketball team made up for a lackluster first half Friday with a doozy of a second half as they overcame cross-county rival Oskaloosa, 56-52, in Oskaloosa.

The Bulldogs were down 8 at the half but turned up both the offense and defense in the second half to overcome a decided 39-22 rebounding advantage for Oskaloosa in the game.


The key was some scoring output from sources other than McLouth senior standout guard Missy Rome, although Rome made her presence felt in the second half as well. Sophomore guards Morgan Drinnon and Terri Stewart chipped in offensively while senior forward Kylie Shufflebarger had 6 fourth-quarter points to help the Bulldogs to victory.


The game started out all Oskaloosa as the Bears ran off the first 8 points of the game and the Bulldogs were still scoreless at the 4-minute mark of the quarter. Stewart put an end to that with McLouth’s first score with 3:34 left and the Bulldogs began the short climb back into the game. Stewart drilled a 3-pointer with 42 seconds left to cut the Bear lead to 3 and, after a 3-point play by Bears junior guard Hailey Kelly, Drinnon hit a 3-pointer with time dwindling to cut the Bears’ lead to 13-10 entering the second quarter.


Again, McLouth’s offense sputtered as the Bears built the lead to 9 points by scoring the first 6 points of the quarter. And again, the McLouth offense went scoreless until Rome hit 2 free throws with 3:55 left in the half. The Bears’ lead reached 11 late in the half before Drinnon sank another late 3-pointer to cut the halftime lead to 25-17 Oskaloosa.


Both offenses came out firing in the second half as the teams combined for four 3-pointers in the first 4 minutes. The Bears stretched the lead to 12 early but Drinnon nailed her third 3-pointer of the game. Bears sophomore guard Haley Pfau answered with a 3-pointer at the other end but Stewart hit a baseline 3 to cut the Bears’ lead to 8 with 6:18 left in the quarter. Stewart scored off a nice pass from Rome to cut the lead to 6 and Rome later cut the lead to 5 with a 3-pointer of her own. The lead continued to dwindle as Shufflebarger hit a free throw then Rome scored off an offensive rebound to cut the Oskaloosa lead to 2 at 35-33. The Bears were able to hold the lead at 4 as Drinnon hit 2 free throws but Kelly went coast-to-coast for a late layin to make the score 41-37 Bears entering the fourth quarter.


The Bulldogs focused on working the ball inside to Shufflebarger throughout the game and, in the final period, the shots began to fall. She scored the Bulldogs’ first 5 points of the quarter and a Rome 3-pointer with 5:17 to play gave the Bulldogs their first lead of the game at 45-43. A score from junior guard Logan Terry stretched the lead to 4 but senior Audrey Trowbridge scored off a Pfau pass and Kelly drilled a 3-pointer to give the Bears a 1-point lead with 3:28 to play. Terry answered with a 3-pointer and 2 Rome free throws made it 52-48 with 2:34 left.


Oskaloosa was unable to overcome the deficit as shots wouldn’t fall and the Bulldogs got rebounds when they needed them. The Bears had the ball down 3 with 23 seconds left but a long inbounds pass resulted in a turnover and Shufflebarger hit a free throw to make it a two-possession game for the Bears. Kelly missed 2 free throws but senior Kyra Coffman came up with an offensive rebound and hit both free throws after getting fouled. The Bulldogs would escape, however, as Rome took the inbounds pass and hit both free throws with 1.9 seconds left to give McLouth the 56-52 win.


Rome scored 18 points to lead the Bulldogs, with 14 points coming in the second half. Drinnon scored 13 points while Stewart added 11 points in the win. Shufflebarger finished with 9 points and also led the Bulldogs with 8 rebounds and 5 steals. Rome pulled down 6 rebounds with 3 steals.


Oskaloosa was led by 18 points from Pfau, who also grabbed 8 rebounds. Kelly added 16 points and 8 rebounds while Coffman pulled down 9 rebounds and senior Mallory Schmidt grabbed 7 boards.


The win improved McLouth’s record to 12-7 entering the regular season’s final week. The Bears fell to 10-6 but bounced back with a makeup shellacking of Wathena Saturday.


McLouth first-year coach Bob Good said his team benefitted from some close games this season, plus the players seem to step up their games in the second half.


“I told them (at halftime) we basically needed to get back on defense and be better at stopping their dribble penetration,” Good said. “Get back, stop the ball and rebound. I told them the shots would fall, we just need to keep doing what we’re doing on offense. They came on strong. Kylie came on late and the shots started falling. Morgan has grown up a lot this season and has gotten more physical with her game. Logan made a couple big shots for us. This team, for some reason, just has a different level of intensity in the fourth quarter. The game gets late and they get better. I like that demeanor.


“We’re working to get a home game that first round of substate. That’s our focus right now. We want to get down the road a little bit farther than they have (in recent seasons).”



Oskaloosa boys 44, McLouth 37


The boys game was a little bit of a mirror image of the girls’ contest as the Bulldogs established an early lead but couldn’t stop Bears junior guard Adam Bowser in the second half.


Bowser scored 17 second-half points as the Bears held on in the fourth quarter for the win. On the flip side, the Bears held McLouth leading scorer senior guard Cole Batman scoreless in the game to help their cause.


The teams got off to a slow start as it was 6-4 with 2:15 to play in the first quarter, but the Bulldogs finished the quarter on a 5-1 run as sophomore guard Shawn Dailey hit a 3-pointer to make it 11-5 McLouth entering the second quarter.


The Bears began to draw closer in the second quarter as senior Brandon Barnes hit a jumper to cut the lead to 11-9. Another Dailey 3-pointer helped the Bulldogs stay ahead but 2 Bowser free throws and a jumper from sophomore Adam Brien cut the lead back to 1 with 3:54 to play in the half. The scores sparked a 10-point Bears run as McLouth didn’t get back on the board until freshman Marc Walbridge hit a jumper with 1:20 left in the half to make the halftime score 19-16 Oskaloosa.


The Bulldogs hung around the lead in the third quarter as a Walbridge 3 tied the game at 22 with 3:55 left in the quarter. Bowser answered with a 3-pointer as the Bears were able to stretch the lead back to 5. Walbridge hit another 3-pointer with 37 seconds left to cut the Bear lead to 29-27 entering the fourth quarter.


The Bears couldn’t pull away from the Bulldogs until a Bowser 3-pointer and 2 Bowser free throws gave them a 6-point lead with just under 4 minutes left in the game. A 3-point play by McLouth sophomore Alen Kramer cut the lead back to 3 with 2:24 to play but the Bulldogs would get no closer. There was some late controversy as McLouth was in a must-foul situation late and junior guard Derek Wright was called for an intentional foul much to the dislike of Bulldog fans. The ensuing possession helped the Bears to a 6-pont lead and senior Adam Marshall got a key steal and hit a free throw with 14 seconds left to help the Bears to the 44-37 win.


Bowser added 7 rebounds to his 21 points to lead the Bears. Junior Braden McGinnis pulled down 7 rebounds as both teams had 24 rebounds in the game.


McLouth was led by 11 points from Walbridge and 9 points from Dailey. Sophomore forward Gavin Swearngin had 8 rebounds and junior forward Trevor Roberts had 6 rebounds.


Oskaloosa coach Rod Stottlemire said after several close losses this season, it was nice to see his team pull out a victory Friday.


“We’ve lost three overtime games and on a bank-in 3 at the buzzer, so any win we can pull off at the end is a good win,” Stottlemire said. “We’ve had a lot of close misses on the raod and the guys have worked real hard this season. McLouth is playing pretty well, so we’re happy to get the win. We’ve got to be more consistent on offense and step our free throws up a bit as well going into substate here.”


The Bears improved to 8-9 with the win while McLouth fell to 3-17. The Bears dropped their makeup game with Wathena Saturday to fall to 8-10.

County basketball update for Feb. 23

Tuesday’s games (Feb. 16)
Girls

JCN 68, Wathena 22
• North led, 33-5, after one quarter en route to the easy win to move to 16-1. Sophomore Jordan Kramer led North with 22 points while senior Sara Navinskey scored 12.

Perry-Lecompton 53, Turner 22
• A 20-7 third quarter helped the Kaws to the win as they improved to 10-6. Senior Jessica Christman led Perry-Lecompton with 15 points while junior Abbey Bays scored 13 points and senior Katie Volle scored 10.

McLouth 52, Horton 49 (OT)
• McLouth came back from a 4-point deficit entering the fourth quarter and then scored the only 3 points in overtime to improve to 11-7. Senior Missy Rome poured in 26 points for the Bulldogs while senior Kylie Shufflebarger scored 11.

Oskaloosa 52, Valley Falls 44
• The Bears used a 16-10 third quarter to build a 9-point lead and then held on to improve to 10-5. Valley Falls fell to 6-11. Sophomore Haley Pfau scored 22 for Oskaloosa while junior Hailey Kelly scored 17 for the Bears. The Dragons were led by 18 points from junior Abbey Kearney and 12 points from junior Morgan Streeter.

Hiawatha 58, Jefferson West 38
• West trailed by 21 at the half in falling to 7-11. Senior Taylor Jaimes led West with 10 points.

Boys

Wathena 66, JCN 51

• Wathena outscored North, 40-26, in the second half to pull away and drop the Chargers to 10-6. Junior Jeff Hale led North with 17 points.

Valley Falls 55, Oskaloosa 51 (OT)
• The Bears used a 26-8 second quarter to take an 8-point halftime lead but the Dragons stormed back to tie the game in the fourth quarter to force overtime. Valley Falls then outscored the Bears, 6-2, in the extra period to win and move to 9-8. Oskaloosa fell to 7-9. Valley Falls was led by 13 points from junior Alex Nottingham, 12 points from junior Brooks Glassel and 11 points from senior Mitchell Streeter. Oskaloosa was led by 20 points from junior Levi Wade, 16 points from senior Brandon Barnes and 10 points from junior Adam Bowser.

Hiawatha 63, Jefferson West 44
• West fell to 5-13 with the loss. Senior Alex Baker led the way with 13 points while senior Austin Siess scored 11.

Turner 57, Perry-Lecompton 49
• Turner pulled ahead for good in the third quarter as the Kaws fell to 2-15. Senior Shelby Politte led Perry-Lecompton with 21 points.

Horton 44, McLouth 39
• The Bulldogs led by 4 at the half but were outscored, 33-24, in the second half to fall to 3-16. Senior Cole Batman scored 14 points to lead McLouth.


Friday’s games (Feb. 19)
Boys

Immaculata 54, JCN 52
• North lost a late lead in falling to 10-7. Senior Nick Clark led the Chargers with 17 points.

Jackson Hts. 51, Valley Falls 44
• The Dragons were outscored, 27-13, in the second and third quarters as they dropped to 9-9. Senior Riley Bunde scored 18 points and Nottingham scored 15 points for the Dragons.

Oskaloosa 44, McLouth 37
• The Bears held on for the win to move to 8-9. McLouth fell to 3-17. Bowser scored 21 points to lead Oskaloosa while freshman Marc Walbridge led McLouth with 11 points.

Nemaha Valley 51, Jefferson West 40
• The Tigers fell to 5-14 with the loss. Baker led West with 10 points.

Piper 44, Perry-Lecompton 31
• The Kaws fell to 2-16.

Girls

JCN 52, Immaculata 44
• The Chargers pulled out the game in the fourth quarter to improve to 17-1. Kramer led the way with 19 points for North.

McLouth 56, Oskaloosa 52
• The Bulldogs came back from an 8-point halftime deficit to pull ahead and win in the fourth quarter to improve to 12-7. Oskaloosa dropped to 10-6. Pfau scored 18 while Kelly scored 16 for Oskaloosa. McLouth was led by 18 points from Rome, including 14 in the second half, 13 points from sophomore Morgan Drinnon and 11 points from sophomore Terri Stewart.

Piper 39, Perry-Lecompton 35
• The Kaws dropped to 10-7.

Valley Falls 38, Jackson Hts. 29
• The Dragons outscored the Cobras, 21-11, in the second half to improve to 7-11. Senior Bailey Sherretts scored 13 points and Kearney scored 12 in the win for Valley Falls.


Saturday’s games (Feb. 20)
Boys

Wathena 61, Oskaloosa 43
• The Bears trailed by 12 at the half and Wathena pulled away for the win to drop Oskaloosa to 8-10. Bowser led the Bears with 16 points.

Girls

Oskaloosa 65, Wathena 35

• The Bears improved to 11-6 as they outscored the Wildcats, 33-8, in the second half. Kelly scored 25 points and Pfau scored 20 in the win.