A slow start and a near-constant Jefferson County North offensive attack was the coal in the Christmas stocking of the Oskaloosa varsity girls’ basketball team Dec. 19.
The Chargers and sophomore standout Jordan Kramer capitalized on that slow start and commanded most of the game en route to a 58-41 victory for a third straight Delaware Valley League Preseason Tournament title. That streak will live in perpetuity as this is set to be the final year for the DVL tourney with the addition of ACCHS and Maur Hill Mount Academy to make the league 14 teams next season.
JCN had an advantage in most if not all facets of the game as they outrebounded the Bears, 28-27, and forced 15 turnovers while committing only 11.
The game belonged to the Chargers from the opening tip as senior forward Mallory GrandPre tapped the ball to Kramer, who drove for a layup to get the scoring started. Senior guard Sara Navinskey drilled a 3-pointer on the Chargers’ next possession and GrandPre and Kramer would add 4 more points to force an Oskaloosa timeout with a 9-0 North lead and 4:20 to play in the first quarter. Bears senior Kyra Coffman scored on a jumper coming off the timeout and sophomore forward Rachel Schmanke hit a short jumper to cut the lead to 9-4 as JCN went several minutes of game time without a score. GrandPre finished the quarter with two free throws and a jumper to give North back the 9-point lead at 13-4 entering the second quarter.
North stayed hot to start the second quarter as a 10-2 run made it 23-6 JCN. The quarter would belong to Kramer as she scored 14 points in the period compared to only 11 for the Bears as a team. The Bears pared the lead to 12 but Kramer scored the Chargers’ last 6 points of the half to make it 31-15 North at halftime.
The Bears put their offensive woes behind them coming out in the second half as junior guard Hailey Kelly started the third quarter with a 3-pointer. The score kickstarted a 16-point output for Oskaloosa in the quarter, but North almost kept pace with 14 points to allow only 2 points to be trimmed off the Charger lead. Oskaloosa cut the lead to 11 but North stretched it back to 15 and settled for a 45-31 lead entering the final quarter.
Needing a big offensive quarter to come back, the Bears didn’t get their first score of the fourth quarter until nearly the 6-minute mark as sophomore guard Haley Pfau nailed a 3-pointer. Kramer matched the score with a baseline 3-pointer to make the lead 16 at 50-34 North. The Bears couldn’t make much headway thereafter as a late Pfau 3-pointer made the final score 58-41 North.
Kramer led all players with 25 points in the game and added 4 rebounds. GrandPre scored 10 points, including going 6-for-6 from the free-throw line, and added 9 rebounds with 2 steals and 3 blocks for the Chargers. Junior forward Katie Noll added 10 points, all in the second half, with Navinskey scoring 9 points with 5 rebounds.
The Bears were led by a good night from Pfau, who had 19 points with 5 rebounds. Kelly scored 8 points with 6 rebounds and 3 steals, Coffman added 8 points, and Schmanke scored 6 points with 9 rebounds for Oskaloosa.
The win improved North’s record to 4-0 while dropping the Bears to 3-1.
North coach Steve Noll said he was very pleased with his team’s performance coming off a narrow opening-round win over Troy and a solid semifinal victory over KC Christian. He expressed the need for more practice after the KCC win and said the work had paid off Saturday.
“(Practice) did us a little better than I thought it might,” Noll said with a chuckle. “We gave them some second chances at times. One of our goals coming in was to control the boards and I thought we did that the second half. The girls really played well.
“I think Oskaloosa is a quicker team then we are, but we looked quicker tonight. I think that start helped our confidence a lot. They started out kinda tentative and we were attacking, and that’s pretty much the opposite of how we were in the Troy game. All around, having four players in double figures, I’ll take that any game. This is a fun group to coach. I like to say it seems like they could go without us coaches. They listen to me, and I trust their input. This was one of our goals, we knew it was the last one, and we wanted to get it.”
In other county girls’ action Saturday, McLouth fell to Jackson Heights, 41-36, in the fifth-place game to fall to 2-3.
In boys’ action, Pleasant Ridge took the title over KC Christian, 54-48, in overtime. Oskaloosa defeated Horton, 50-31, for fifth place behind 17 points from junior Adam Bowser, 14 points from junior Levi Wade and 10 points from senior Brandon Barnes. The Bears are 4-1. McLouth defeated Doniphan West, 61-45, for seventh place behind 24 points from senior Cole Batman and 12 points from junior Trevor Roberts to move to 2-3.
