Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Dragon varsities split with Pleasant Ridge

Nearly 60 combined turnovers and more than 45 fouls made for a less-than-pretty 43-29 win for the Valley Falls varsity girls’ basketball team Friday over Pleasant Ridge, but the Dragons and coach Todd Gish will take the victory.

The win improved the Dragons’ record to 4-4 going into midseason tournament play. A big turnover advantage for Valley Falls offset a Rams rebounding advantage to help the Dragons get the win.


The Dragons kept the Rams off the board for the first couple minutes of the game en route to building a 10-3 lead. The 7-point advantage held at 12-5 Valley Falls entering the second quarter.


The Dragons pulled farther away in the second quarter as they ended the half on a 7-3 scoring spurt to hold a 21-11 halftime lead. Eleven first-quarter turnovers for the Rams ended up as a total of 20 for the first half to help fuel the deficit for Pleasant Ridge.


Valley Falls struggled in the early going of the second half as the Rams scored the first 5 points of the third quarter to cut the lead in half. The Dragons regained control, however, as junior guard Abbey Kearney scored off a baseline drive and sophomore Macie Herrig scored off a steal and was fouled to stretch the lead back to 9. Herrig missed the free throw but senior forward Bethany Myers grabbed the rebound and Herrig hit an open 3-pointer to make the lead 12 at 30-18 Dragons. The Dragons would score the final 9 points of the quarter all together to take a 32-18 lead into the fourth quarter.


Fouls helped draw out the final quarter of play as neither team got on the board again until less than six minutes were left in the game. Senior Bailey Sherretts finally broke the ice for Valley Falls with a short jumper with about five minutes left in the game to keep the lead at 14. That’s the way the game ended as the Dragons salted away the 43-29 win.


Dragons’ leading scorer Kearney wasn’t at the top of her game and played through foul trouble but still led the way for Valley Falls with 16 points, 5 rebounds and 9 steals. Herrig added 7 points, and Myers scored 7 points with 6 rebounds for the Dragons. Pleasant Ridge was led by 8 points from senior Holly Skaggs and 9 rebounds from junior Cassy Roberts. The Rams had 35 turnovers and 25 fouls compared to 21 turnovers and 21 fouls for the Dragons.


Gish said the win was good as several players had to step up and look to contribute more.


“It’s never a question of effort for us,” Gish said. “The girls work hard. We’ve been trying to execute more consistently. Tonight it was hard to get into a rhythm with all the foul calls. I’m trying to get them sold on running the offense and making the other team play defense. We did enough tonight to get the win.”



Ridge boys 56,
Valley Falls 28

The Ram varsity boys jumped out to an early lead and didn’t look back in dropping the Dragons to 3-5 on the season.


The difference in the game wasn’t abundantly clear through some statistics as the Rams outrebounded the Dragons, 25-21, and forced 17 Dragon turnovers while committing 10. It was a consistent offensive attack that got the Rams the win.


The Dragons scored the first basket of the game but the Rams put up the next 10 points to take a solid lead with about three minutes left in the opening quarter. Dragons junior forward Brooks Glassel hit a short jumper to get Valley Falls back on the board with 2:40 left in the quarter, then scored off a steal and ended the quarter with a 3-pointer at the buzzer to keep the Dragons in the game down, 15-9, entering the second quarter.


Glassel started the second quarter with a 3-pointer but those would be his only points of the quarter as the Rams went on a 21-4 run from there to close out the half. Keying the run were two 3-pointers from Rams senior Matt Hager and two 3-point plays from senior Terell Jordan. The Rams scored the last 11 points of the half to take a 36-16 lead into halftime.


The Dragons cut the lead to 16 early in the second half but the Rams pulled back away to lead by 23 at 49-26 entering the fourth quarter. The junior varsities played a chunk of the fourth quarter as the Rams held on to a 56-28 win.


The Dragons were led by 14 points from Glassel and 7 points from junior Alex Nottingham. Senior Riley Bunde pulled down 7 rebounds.

County basketball update for Jan. 19

Tuesday’s games (Jan. 12)
Girls

Oskaloosa 56, Jackson Heights 34
• The Bears improved to 5-1 overall with the road win. Four Bears were in double figures led by 13 points from sophomore Rachel Schmanke. Junior Hailey Kelly scored 11 and senior Kyra Coffman and sophomore Haley Pfau scored 10 each.

KC Christian 62, JCN 51
• The Chargers suffered their first regular-season loss since 2008 as KCC avenged a loss in the league tourney semifinals. JCN moved to 4-1. Sophomore Jordan Kramer scored 16 points for North while senior Mallory GrandPre scored 14 points.

Perry-Lecompton 38, Bonner Springs 36
• The Kaws improved to 3-1 with the win.

McLouth 60, Wathena 35
• The Bulldogs outscored Wathena, 37-17, in the second half to improve to 4-3. Senior Missy Rome led McLouth with 25 points while senior Kylie Shufflebarger scored 11 points.

Immaculata 43, Valley Falls 34
• A 9-1 first quarter and 17-6 third quarter did in the Dragons as they dropped to 3-4. Junior Abbey Kearney led the way for Valley Falls with 17 points. Sophomore Macie Herrig scored 9 points.

Jefferson West 40, Nemaha Valley 35
• West came back from a 5-point deficit entering the fourth quarter to win and move to 2-5. Senior BriAnna Ploude led West with 16 points.

Boys

Jackson Heights 66, Oskaloosa 31
• The Bears dropped to 5-2 as Heights led, 25-2, after one quarter and didn’t look back. Junior Adam Bowser scored 13 points and junior Levi Wade scored 10 in the loss.

KC Christian 53, JCN 37
• North dropped to 3-2. Sophomore Dalton Minor led the Chargers with 14 points.

Nemaha Valley 45, Jefferson West 44
• West fell to 3-4 as the Tigers squandered an 8-point lead starting the second quarter and a 5-point lead entering the fourth quarter. Junior Dillon Roy led West with 13 points and senior Alex Baker scored 10 points.

Wathena 51, McLouth 35
• The Bulldogs dropped to 2-6.

Bonner Springs 68, Perry-Lecompton 36
• The Kaws dropped to 0-5. Senior Shelby Politte scored 10 points to lead the Kaws.


Thursday’s games (Jan. 14)
Girls

JCN 51, McLouth 35
• North got back on the winning track in a makeup game versus McLouth. The Chargers improved to 5-1 while McLouth fell to 4-4. Kramer scored 24 points while GrandPre scored 15 for North. McLouth was led by 16 points from Rome.

Boys

JCN 41, McLouth 31
• North improved to 4-2 while McLouth fell to 2-7. North built a 17-point lead entering the final quarter before McLouth tightened it late. Minor scored 10 points to lead the Chargers. The Bulldogs were led by 13 points from sophomore Alen Kramer and 12 points from senior Cole Batman.


Friday’s games (Jan. 15)
Boys

Doniphan West 50, Oskaloosa 48
• The Bears dropped to 5-3.

JCN 47, Horton 42
• The Chargers held off Horton to improve to 5-2. Junior Jeff Hale led the way for North with 18 points.

Royal Valley 52, Jefferson West 50
• The Tigers dropped to 3-5 as Royal Valley came back from a 9-point halftime deficit to win. Baker scored 14 points while senior Adam Fechter scored 10 points in the loss.

Pleasant Ridge 56, Valley Falls 28

• The Dragons fell to 3-5. Junior Brooks Glassel scored 14 points to lead the Dragons.

Immaculata 65, McLouth 59 (2OT)

• The Bulldogs dropped to 2-8 as a tight game was decided in double overtime. Batman scored 20 points and junior Trevor Roberts added 13 points in the losing cause.

Santa Fe Trail 58, Perry-Lecompton 26

• The Kaws fell to 0-6. Senior Brad Phillips was the high scorer for Perry-Lecompton with 5 points.

Girls


Oskaloosa 57, Doniphan West 28

• The Bears improved to 6-1 overall as a 22-6 first quarter set the tone in the win. Pfau led the Bears with 23 points while Kelly poured in 21.

JCN 58, Horton 48

• North improved to 6-1 with the victory. Kramer paced the Chargers with 29 points and GrandPre scored 10 in the win for North.

Perry-Lecompton 47, Santa Fe Trail 31

• The Kaws improved to 4-1. Junior Abbey Bays, sophomore Natasha Carver and senior Jessica Christman scored 12 points each to lead the Kaws.

McLouth 76, Immaculata 71 (3OT)

• The Bulldogs lost a 6-point lead entering the fourth quarter but got the game won in triple overtime to improve to 5-4. Rome set a school single-game record with 39 points and Shufflebarger scored 14 points in the win.

Valley Falls 43, Pleasant Ridge 29
• The Dragons improved to 4-4 with the win. Kearney scored 16 points for the Dragons.

Jefferson West 36, Royal Valley 35

• The Tigers improved to 3-5.