A second quarter surge helped the Oskaloosa varsity girls’ basketball team stay perfect in league regular season play as the Bears rolled past Doniphan West, 46-26, Friday in Oskaloosa.
The win improved the Bears to 7-1 with their only loss coming in the Delaware Valley League preseason tourney against Jefferson County North. Games in the tournament don’t count toward the DVL teams’ league records.
Defense was the name of the game for OHS Friday as the Bears forced 19 West turnovers while committing only 9 themselves, including only 2 in the second half. This outweighed a rebounding advantage that was 31-20 in favor of the visiting Mustangs.
The score was 2-2 for a chunk of the first quarter as neither team could find the mark offensively. Oskaloosa senior Nicole Rockhold finally broke the stalemate with a baseline jumper with 2:43 to play in the quarter and the teams played to a 7-6 Oskaloosa lead entering the second quarter.
Rockhold got the Bears started with a short turnaround jumper with 6:18 left in the half and the Bears went on a run. They rattled off the final 9 points of the half including 5 points from Rockhold to make the halftime score 22-9 Bears.
Doniphan West played better offensively in the third quarter but Oskaloosa edged further away. The Bears scored the first 4 points of the half and extended the lead to 16 at 28-12 before the Mustangs began a comeback. Two 3-pointers by senior Taylor Twombly helped trim the lead to 9 at 28-19, but the Bears responded with an 8-2 run to end the quarter with a 36-21 lead as Rockhold and freshman Haley Pfau scored 4 points each on the run thanks in part to quick transition offense.
From there, it was a matter of time as Oskaloosa’s lead reached 19 early in the fourth quarter. Bears coach LeeAnn Tufte put in the reserves to finish off the 46-26 win.
Rockhold led the Bears with 20 points in the win and added 5 rebounds and 3 steals. Sophomore Hailey Kelly was the other Bear in double figures with 11 points and also had 3 steals. Pfau added 6 rebounds in the win to lead the team in that category. Doniphan West was led by 12 points and 6 rebounds from junior Lisa Scholz and 10 rebounds from junior Jessica Gartner.
Tufte said all around it was a good win for her team.
“We played solid defensively,” she said. “During those times like the first quarter where our offense isn’t running well, defense like that keeps us right there. I’m very pleased. Our bench also did well so I’m happy to see that.”
Oskaloosa boys 46, Doniphan West 31
The Bear boys used a strong second half to pull away from the Mustangs and get their first league win.
Rebounding was a key for Oskaloosa as the Bears pulled down 30 rebounds compared to only 16 for West. They also forced 18 turnovers while committing 17.
West grabbed an early 7-4 lead but saw the Bears go on a 10-2 run to take the lead thanks to 4 points each from senior Chase Tenpenny and sophomore Adam Bowser. The Bears took a 14-11 lead into the second quarter.
The Bears lead hung in the area of 3-4 points through the second quarter as neither team could gain ground on the other. Oskaloosa’s lead reached 6 but a 3-point play by West senior Travis Twombly cut it back to 3 and the Bears took a 22-18 lead into halftime. The Mustangs suffered a key loss in the quarter as senior guard Zach Lee collided with Oskaloosa senior J.T. Thurston and hit the floor hard and left the game with an apparent cut on the back of his head.
The third quarter would prove pivotal as a Thurston 3-point play helped the Bears build the lead to 29-20. West cut the lead back to 5 but Oskaloosa built it back to the point the Bears held a 35-26 lead going into the fourth quarter.
The Bears finished the game strong as they outscored the Mustangs, 11-5, in the final period. The lead reached 11 early in the quarter and free throws helped the Bears pull away for a 46-31 victory.
Thurston led the way for Oskaloosa with 15 points along with 5 rebounds. Tenpenny notched a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds to go with 5 steals and Bowser added 11 points in the win. West was led by 10 points and 4 rebounds from Twombly.
The win improved Oskaloosa to 5-4 following league losses to Troy and Jackson Heights. Bears coach Rod Stottlemire said he was glad to get the win but his team needs more consistency if it wants to make an impact in the postseason.
“We turned the ball over too much in the first half, but we played real hard defensively,” Stottlemire said. “We’ve figured out that if we can hold the other team under 44 points we can win. That’s our magic number. We got some good looks there in the second half and had some layups. We’ve gotta do better at being consistent in rebounding and on offense. We did better tonight about not letting them have second chance points. If we can get that consistency, we’ll be OK.”
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
JCN girls take nailbiter from McLouth, 60-58
Last season, an upstart McLouth Bulldogs’ girls’ varsity basketball team went into Winchester and took down the Jefferson County North Chargers on their home court. This year, it was JCN’s chance to turn the tables.
The Chargers did so Friday in McLouth, but it wasn’t easy as a 13-point JCN halftime lead dwindled to the point McLouth led by 1 with less than 10 seconds left. North freshman Jordan Kramer hit the biggest shot of her high school career thus far with a game-winning 3-pointer to give JCN a 60-58 win.
A combination of rebounding and defense helped the Chargers build their healthy halftime lead but McLouth fought back with rebounding and standout play from juniors Missy Rome, Kylie Shufflebarger and Cassidy Bristol.
McLouth came out of the gate flat on offense in the early going as North built a 12-2 lead thanks in part to two 3-pointers by Kramer. McLouth got its first field goal on a 3-pointer by freshman Terri Stewart with time running out to cut the lead to 12-5 entering the second quarter.
JCN’s lead reached double digits again before McLouth trimmed it to 7 midway through the second quarter. North senior Lisa Weishaar hit a 3-pointer with 57 seconds left in the half to make it 35-22 JCN and that held at halftime.
McLouth quickly proved to be playing better in the second half as Shufflebarger hit a short jumper and Rome answered a score by North junior Mallory GrandPre with a 3-pointer to cut the lead to 10. The Bulldogs cut the lead to 6 on a 3-pointer by freshman Morgan Drinnon but the Chargers again built it back to 10 points at 43-33. Rome hit a turnaround jumper off a Shufflebarger defensive rebound, Bristol scored off a Stewart defensive rebound and a Shufflebarger blocked shot was turned into a 3-pointer by Rome and the lead quickly shrank to 43-40 JCN with 1:17 left in the quarter. Two Kramer free throws made the score 45-40 North entering the fourth quarter.
McLouth kept the pressure on going into the final period as Shufflebarger started the quarter with a jumper to cut the lead back to 3 and then scored off a Rome blocked shot to cut the lead to 1. McLouth had a chance to take the lead but turned the ball over and GrandPre hit a jumper in the lane to make it 47-44 North. Drinnon answered with a bank-in 3-pointer to tie the game for the first time since the game’s start with 6:37 left in the game.
After a JCN timeout, North junior Sara Navinskey hit a 3-pointer to give North back the lead and senior Amelia Noll scored off an offensive rebound to make the lead 5 for the Chargers once more. North was able to build the lead back to 9 on scores by sophomore Katie Noll before the Bulldogs made another run. A Shufflebarger score was followed by a Shufflebarger blocked shot that turned into a Rome 3-pointer, Amelia Noll was whistled for an offensive foul and Bristol scored off an offensive rebound to cut the JCN lead to 56-54 and force a Charger timeout with 1:35 left.
GrandPre hit one of two free throws to make the lead 3 but McLouth cut the lead back to 1 and then took the lead on a steal and lay-in by Rome as JCN tried to run down the clock. The score came with 35 seconds left and Rome came up with another steal on North’s next possession as McLouth took a timeout with 22 seconds left.
North was forced to foul three times to get the Bulldogs to the bonus free throw situation and Drinnon drew a foul with 10 seconds left and McLouth up by 1 at 58-57. The freshman missed the front end of the one-and-one free throws and GrandPre pulled down the rebound. The Chargers advanced the ball to half-court before calling a timeout with 5.8 seconds left. The ball was inbounded to Kramer on the left wing and, with an uncontested shot, the Charger freshman sank a 3-pointer with 3 seconds left to give JCN a 60-58 lead. McLouth called a timeout immediately to set up a final attempt to tie the game or win it. The ball was inbounded to Rome, who passed up a long desperation shot to pass the ball downcourt. The Bulldogs couldn’t get a shot off and North took home the 2-point win to improve to 5-0. McLouth fell to 3-3.
JCN head coach Steve Noll said the final play that resulted in Kramer’s winning shot was set up for Kramer to get the ball and, when the defender came out to cover her, look to pass the ball inside for a better shot. When no defender came out to cover Kramer, she stepped up and made the winning shot.
“We had our ups and downs tonight, but it was a whole team effort,” Noll said. “We were up 13 at halftime, which was nice, but I knew they were gonna make a run. We got a little shaky there. I think that month layoff here really made a difference on both sides. We had Amelia covering Rome and she was getting worn down, which is dangerous when you’re playing Rome. Everybody did their part in their own way tonight. We need to play teams that are good like this. We’ve talked about playing all the way through and how you can’t get down when you have downs. It’s a good win for us.”
GrandPre led the way for North with 20 points and 7 rebounds. Kramer added 13 points and Katie Noll chipped in 10 points, including some key scores down the stretch.
Rome led all scorers with 25 points for the Bulldogs and pulled down 5 rebounds with 5 steals. Shufflebarger added 14 points and 4 rebounds and Bristol scored 7 points with 9 rebounds.
North led the rebounding battle, 13-11, at halftime, but McLouth flipped it around to lead overall in the game in that category, 26-24. This was balanced by 14 McLouth turnovers compared to only 11 for North.
North boys 49, McLouth 26
The varsity boys’ game was a close contest for about the first quarter-and-a-half before North ran off with the game to improve to 3-2.
McLouth dropped to 0-6.
One key to the game came on the boards as JCN outrebounded the Bulldogs, 26-8, in the game. The Chargers also got 17 McLouth turnovers while committing only 10.
The game was tight throughout the first quarter as both teams held a 3-point lead at one point. When the dust settled, a late jumper by North senior Matt Perry gave North a 13-12 lead entering the second quarter.
North began to pull away in the second quarter as the Chargers scored the first 7 points of the quarter to build the lead to 20-12 with 5:27 to play in the half. The lead reached 11 before McLouth cut it back to 6 on a 3-pointer by senior Derrick Crouse to make the halftime score 24-18 JCN.
Both teams got out to a slow start in the third quarter as JCN’s lead was 27-18 with 5:28 left in the quarter. McLouth kept the deficit in single digits for the most part but JCN had a 35-24 lead going into the fourth quarter.
McLouth scored the first 2 points of the fourth quarter but wouldn’t score again as North finished the game on a 14-point run to go home with a 49-26 win.
JCN junior Nick Clark led North with 10 points as 10 different Chargers scored in the win. Junior Tyler Noll added 8 points and grabbed 6 rebounds for the Chargers. McLouth was led by 10 points from Crouse.
JCN head coach Jim Brickell said it was nice for his team to start the post-holiday schedule on a good note.
“We lost our last two games coming in, so you worry a little bit about that first game coming back,” Brickell said. “We clicked better offensively the second half and the boys played hard. That’s a key for our team – playing hard the whole game. I also thought defensively we played much better the second half, too.”
The Chargers did so Friday in McLouth, but it wasn’t easy as a 13-point JCN halftime lead dwindled to the point McLouth led by 1 with less than 10 seconds left. North freshman Jordan Kramer hit the biggest shot of her high school career thus far with a game-winning 3-pointer to give JCN a 60-58 win.
A combination of rebounding and defense helped the Chargers build their healthy halftime lead but McLouth fought back with rebounding and standout play from juniors Missy Rome, Kylie Shufflebarger and Cassidy Bristol.
McLouth came out of the gate flat on offense in the early going as North built a 12-2 lead thanks in part to two 3-pointers by Kramer. McLouth got its first field goal on a 3-pointer by freshman Terri Stewart with time running out to cut the lead to 12-5 entering the second quarter.
JCN’s lead reached double digits again before McLouth trimmed it to 7 midway through the second quarter. North senior Lisa Weishaar hit a 3-pointer with 57 seconds left in the half to make it 35-22 JCN and that held at halftime.
McLouth quickly proved to be playing better in the second half as Shufflebarger hit a short jumper and Rome answered a score by North junior Mallory GrandPre with a 3-pointer to cut the lead to 10. The Bulldogs cut the lead to 6 on a 3-pointer by freshman Morgan Drinnon but the Chargers again built it back to 10 points at 43-33. Rome hit a turnaround jumper off a Shufflebarger defensive rebound, Bristol scored off a Stewart defensive rebound and a Shufflebarger blocked shot was turned into a 3-pointer by Rome and the lead quickly shrank to 43-40 JCN with 1:17 left in the quarter. Two Kramer free throws made the score 45-40 North entering the fourth quarter.
McLouth kept the pressure on going into the final period as Shufflebarger started the quarter with a jumper to cut the lead back to 3 and then scored off a Rome blocked shot to cut the lead to 1. McLouth had a chance to take the lead but turned the ball over and GrandPre hit a jumper in the lane to make it 47-44 North. Drinnon answered with a bank-in 3-pointer to tie the game for the first time since the game’s start with 6:37 left in the game.
After a JCN timeout, North junior Sara Navinskey hit a 3-pointer to give North back the lead and senior Amelia Noll scored off an offensive rebound to make the lead 5 for the Chargers once more. North was able to build the lead back to 9 on scores by sophomore Katie Noll before the Bulldogs made another run. A Shufflebarger score was followed by a Shufflebarger blocked shot that turned into a Rome 3-pointer, Amelia Noll was whistled for an offensive foul and Bristol scored off an offensive rebound to cut the JCN lead to 56-54 and force a Charger timeout with 1:35 left.
GrandPre hit one of two free throws to make the lead 3 but McLouth cut the lead back to 1 and then took the lead on a steal and lay-in by Rome as JCN tried to run down the clock. The score came with 35 seconds left and Rome came up with another steal on North’s next possession as McLouth took a timeout with 22 seconds left.
North was forced to foul three times to get the Bulldogs to the bonus free throw situation and Drinnon drew a foul with 10 seconds left and McLouth up by 1 at 58-57. The freshman missed the front end of the one-and-one free throws and GrandPre pulled down the rebound. The Chargers advanced the ball to half-court before calling a timeout with 5.8 seconds left. The ball was inbounded to Kramer on the left wing and, with an uncontested shot, the Charger freshman sank a 3-pointer with 3 seconds left to give JCN a 60-58 lead. McLouth called a timeout immediately to set up a final attempt to tie the game or win it. The ball was inbounded to Rome, who passed up a long desperation shot to pass the ball downcourt. The Bulldogs couldn’t get a shot off and North took home the 2-point win to improve to 5-0. McLouth fell to 3-3.
JCN head coach Steve Noll said the final play that resulted in Kramer’s winning shot was set up for Kramer to get the ball and, when the defender came out to cover her, look to pass the ball inside for a better shot. When no defender came out to cover Kramer, she stepped up and made the winning shot.
“We had our ups and downs tonight, but it was a whole team effort,” Noll said. “We were up 13 at halftime, which was nice, but I knew they were gonna make a run. We got a little shaky there. I think that month layoff here really made a difference on both sides. We had Amelia covering Rome and she was getting worn down, which is dangerous when you’re playing Rome. Everybody did their part in their own way tonight. We need to play teams that are good like this. We’ve talked about playing all the way through and how you can’t get down when you have downs. It’s a good win for us.”
GrandPre led the way for North with 20 points and 7 rebounds. Kramer added 13 points and Katie Noll chipped in 10 points, including some key scores down the stretch.
Rome led all scorers with 25 points for the Bulldogs and pulled down 5 rebounds with 5 steals. Shufflebarger added 14 points and 4 rebounds and Bristol scored 7 points with 9 rebounds.
North led the rebounding battle, 13-11, at halftime, but McLouth flipped it around to lead overall in the game in that category, 26-24. This was balanced by 14 McLouth turnovers compared to only 11 for North.
North boys 49, McLouth 26
The varsity boys’ game was a close contest for about the first quarter-and-a-half before North ran off with the game to improve to 3-2.
McLouth dropped to 0-6.
One key to the game came on the boards as JCN outrebounded the Bulldogs, 26-8, in the game. The Chargers also got 17 McLouth turnovers while committing only 10.
The game was tight throughout the first quarter as both teams held a 3-point lead at one point. When the dust settled, a late jumper by North senior Matt Perry gave North a 13-12 lead entering the second quarter.
North began to pull away in the second quarter as the Chargers scored the first 7 points of the quarter to build the lead to 20-12 with 5:27 to play in the half. The lead reached 11 before McLouth cut it back to 6 on a 3-pointer by senior Derrick Crouse to make the halftime score 24-18 JCN.
Both teams got out to a slow start in the third quarter as JCN’s lead was 27-18 with 5:28 left in the quarter. McLouth kept the deficit in single digits for the most part but JCN had a 35-24 lead going into the fourth quarter.
McLouth scored the first 2 points of the fourth quarter but wouldn’t score again as North finished the game on a 14-point run to go home with a 49-26 win.
JCN junior Nick Clark led North with 10 points as 10 different Chargers scored in the win. Junior Tyler Noll added 8 points and grabbed 6 rebounds for the Chargers. McLouth was led by 10 points from Crouse.
JCN head coach Jim Brickell said it was nice for his team to start the post-holiday schedule on a good note.
“We lost our last two games coming in, so you worry a little bit about that first game coming back,” Brickell said. “We clicked better offensively the second half and the boys played hard. That’s a key for our team – playing hard the whole game. I also thought defensively we played much better the second half, too.”
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
JCN girls bring home hardware
When the dust had settled Saturday on the Jefferson County North girls’ 50-30 win over KC Christian in the championship game of the Delaware Valley League Preseason Basketball Tournament in Oskaloosa, head coach Steve Noll didn’t focus on the fact the win marked his 100th varsity victory.
He was happy to focus on his team’s second straight DVL Tourney title instead.
The Chargers used a mix of strong pressure defense and tenacious rebounding to rack up a 12-2 second quarter that gave them all the room they needed for the 20-point win.
North dominated the Panthers on the boards, with a 27-10 advantage in rebounds in the first half and a 47-23 advantage overall. The Chargers also forced 25 turnovers while committing only 15 themselves.
The win capped a tournament run that saw the Chargers rout Immaculata and come back from a double-digit deficit to beat the host Oskaloosa Bears in the semifinals.
The Panthers stayed close in the first quarter and led midway through on a 3-pointer by senior Sarah Hawthorne. JCN regained the lead on a turnaround jumper by junior Mallory GrandPre and, after a steal by senior Devin Gigstad, junior Sara Navinskey drilled a 3-pointer to make it 12-8 North. After a jumpball gave the ball back to North, GrandPre scored on a lay-in to make it 14-8 and force a KCC timeout. North stretched the lead to 16-9 but Hawthorne hit another 3-pointer and North settled for a 17-12 lead entering the second quarter.
JCN cranked up the full-court pressure defense in the second quarter and it paid off, as 3 points by senior Amelia Noll stretched the Charger lead to 8. The Panthers didn’t get their first point of the quarter until the 5:01 mark and they wouldn’t hit a field goal attempt in the quarter. JCN ended the quarter on a 7-2 run to take a 29-14 lead into the locker room at halftime.
JCN’s 17-rebound advantage in the first half continued to hold true in the third quarter as North grabbed two offensive rebounds on its first possession of the half. On the Chargers’ next possession, senior Lisa Weishaar hit a 3-pointer that made the score 33-14 JCN. A Gigstad lay-in off an Amelia Noll pass pushed the lead to 21 and reached 22 at its peak before a late KCC score cut it to 40-20 entering the fourth quarter.
North held the line in the fourth quarter as Steve Noll cleared the bench with his team up 20 and about 5 minutes left in the game. The bench extended the lead to 23 but Hawthorne hit a final 3-pointer to make the final score 50-30 JCN.
Gigstad led the way for JCN with 13 points and finished just shy of a double-double with 9 rebounds. Amelia Noll and GrandPre finished with 7 points each and grabbed 7 and 8 rebounds, respectively. Freshman Jordan Kramer also had 7 rebounds for North. KCC was led by Hawthorne’s 9 points and 6 rebounds from junior Danielle Trott.
Noll said the only person who knew the game would be his 100th varsity win was his wife, and he said with a laugh he was hoping she would have kept the fact under her hat.
“That other stuff doesn’t really matter,” he said. North moved to 4-0 with the win. “I was really wanting to win two tournaments in a row, though. We expected them to come out a lot more aggressively than they did. We got down a bit coming out of the chute versus Oskaloosa but we need to start coming out at the start like we did today. We had three goals coming in – contest every shot, keep the pressure on them and control the boards – and I thought we did all of those things. Devin hit the boards really well for us. For the most part I’m pleased with everybody today. We’ll enjoy tonight and tomorrow and come back Monday ready to practice. It was a whole team effort today.”
In other county action, Oskaloosa defeated Horton, 42-41, for third place and McLouth defeated Jackson Heights, 62-56, for fifth place. Valley Falls placed 10th with a 40-35 loss to Troy in the ninth place game.
Oskaloosa boys defeat Valley Falls for fifth
On the boys’ side, the top county game came down to the fifth-place matchup between the host Bears and the Valley Falls Dragons, which Oskaloosa took by a 47-44 count.
Both teams entered with a 2-2 record on the season. Oskaloosa fell to Wathena in the first round while Valley Falls lost to eventual tourney champion KC Christian in the quarterfinals. Oskaloosa bounced back to win a tight game over JCN in the consolation semifinals while Valley Falls outlasted Horton by 4 points to set up the intracounty rivalry game for fifth.
The first half was nip-and-tuck as the teams traded scores throughout the first quarter to enter the second quarter tied at 12. Valley Falls got a 3-pointer from sophomore Alex Nottingham to open the scoring in the second quarter but the teams continued to stay close. The Bears took a 4-point lead with about 3 minutes left in the half but Dragons junior Riley Bunde hit a hook shot and senior Josh Kearney scored off a Bunde defensive rebound to tie the game. Nottingham hit a jumper to give the Dragons a 2-point lead with 1:20 left in the half but Bears sophomore Adam Bowser hit a 3-pointer with time dwindling to give Oskaloosa a 24-23 halftime lead.
Oskaloosa got some breathing room in the third quarter as the Bears started the half on a 6-point run to open up a 7-point lead. Dragons senior Ray Cook scored off a steal by junior Mitchell Streeter to get Valley Falls on the scoreboard with 4:34 to go in the quarter. The Dragons would have multiple chances to cut into the Bears’ lead, which held at 7 and became 9 on two free throws by senior post player Chase Tenpeny. The lead held there as the Bears took a 38-29 advantage into the fourth quarter.
The Dragons wouldn’t go away, though, as senior T.J. Breese hit a 3-pointer to start the scoring in the fourth quarter and a Cook short jumper cut the lead to 6 with about 4:30 to go in the game. Nottingham scored off a steal and then hit two free throws on the Dragons’ next possession to cut it to 43-41 Bears with 2:28 left. Dragons senior Dylan McKnight scored off a Cook steal to tie the game with about a minute to play but Bears senior guard J.T. Thurston hit two free throws with 53 seconds left to give the lead back to Oskaloosa.
Kearney hit one of two free throws with 33 seconds left to cut the lead to 1 but Tenpenny hit two free throws on the other end with 16 seconds left to make it 47-44 Oskaloosa. The Bears had a chance to put the game away but Thurston missed the front end of a one-and-one free throw situation and Bunde pulled down the rebound with 4 seconds left and the Dragons called a quick timeout.
With 2.9 seconds left and the ball at three-quarter court, Nottingham inbounded the ball and Tenpenny knocked it out of bounds with 1.5 seconds left. Nottingham got the ball to Cook for a game-tying 3-point attempt at the buzzer but two Bears got over on defense and blocked the shot to secure the 47-44 win.
Oskaloosa was led by 18 points and 6 rebounds from Tenpenny and 10 points and 5 rebounds from Thurston. Valley Falls was led by 15 points and 8 rebounds from Bunde and 11 points from Nottingham. Cook added 7 points and 5 rebounds.
The game proved to be a tight one even in the stats as both teams grabbed 17 rebounds and Valley Falls had 14 turnovers compared to 11 for the Bears.
Bears coach Rod Stottlemire said his team had its hopes set on better than fifth place but he was happy overall with his team’s performance.
“We only have three kids that played varsity last year,” Stottlemire said. “We’re still trying to find ourselves a little bit out there. I’ve been a lot happier with our defense the last couple games. I think the tournament showed the league this year is really even. We got a little crazy with the ball there in the fourth quarter but we play too fast sometimes. If I can get them to play 90 percent fast rather than 110 percent fast, we do a lot better.”
In other county action, Horton routed JCN for seventh place, 76-42, and, in the 11th place game, Jackson Heights defeated McLouth, 59-46.
He was happy to focus on his team’s second straight DVL Tourney title instead.
The Chargers used a mix of strong pressure defense and tenacious rebounding to rack up a 12-2 second quarter that gave them all the room they needed for the 20-point win.
North dominated the Panthers on the boards, with a 27-10 advantage in rebounds in the first half and a 47-23 advantage overall. The Chargers also forced 25 turnovers while committing only 15 themselves.
The win capped a tournament run that saw the Chargers rout Immaculata and come back from a double-digit deficit to beat the host Oskaloosa Bears in the semifinals.
The Panthers stayed close in the first quarter and led midway through on a 3-pointer by senior Sarah Hawthorne. JCN regained the lead on a turnaround jumper by junior Mallory GrandPre and, after a steal by senior Devin Gigstad, junior Sara Navinskey drilled a 3-pointer to make it 12-8 North. After a jumpball gave the ball back to North, GrandPre scored on a lay-in to make it 14-8 and force a KCC timeout. North stretched the lead to 16-9 but Hawthorne hit another 3-pointer and North settled for a 17-12 lead entering the second quarter.
JCN cranked up the full-court pressure defense in the second quarter and it paid off, as 3 points by senior Amelia Noll stretched the Charger lead to 8. The Panthers didn’t get their first point of the quarter until the 5:01 mark and they wouldn’t hit a field goal attempt in the quarter. JCN ended the quarter on a 7-2 run to take a 29-14 lead into the locker room at halftime.
JCN’s 17-rebound advantage in the first half continued to hold true in the third quarter as North grabbed two offensive rebounds on its first possession of the half. On the Chargers’ next possession, senior Lisa Weishaar hit a 3-pointer that made the score 33-14 JCN. A Gigstad lay-in off an Amelia Noll pass pushed the lead to 21 and reached 22 at its peak before a late KCC score cut it to 40-20 entering the fourth quarter.
North held the line in the fourth quarter as Steve Noll cleared the bench with his team up 20 and about 5 minutes left in the game. The bench extended the lead to 23 but Hawthorne hit a final 3-pointer to make the final score 50-30 JCN.
Gigstad led the way for JCN with 13 points and finished just shy of a double-double with 9 rebounds. Amelia Noll and GrandPre finished with 7 points each and grabbed 7 and 8 rebounds, respectively. Freshman Jordan Kramer also had 7 rebounds for North. KCC was led by Hawthorne’s 9 points and 6 rebounds from junior Danielle Trott.
Noll said the only person who knew the game would be his 100th varsity win was his wife, and he said with a laugh he was hoping she would have kept the fact under her hat.
“That other stuff doesn’t really matter,” he said. North moved to 4-0 with the win. “I was really wanting to win two tournaments in a row, though. We expected them to come out a lot more aggressively than they did. We got down a bit coming out of the chute versus Oskaloosa but we need to start coming out at the start like we did today. We had three goals coming in – contest every shot, keep the pressure on them and control the boards – and I thought we did all of those things. Devin hit the boards really well for us. For the most part I’m pleased with everybody today. We’ll enjoy tonight and tomorrow and come back Monday ready to practice. It was a whole team effort today.”
In other county action, Oskaloosa defeated Horton, 42-41, for third place and McLouth defeated Jackson Heights, 62-56, for fifth place. Valley Falls placed 10th with a 40-35 loss to Troy in the ninth place game.
Oskaloosa boys defeat Valley Falls for fifth
On the boys’ side, the top county game came down to the fifth-place matchup between the host Bears and the Valley Falls Dragons, which Oskaloosa took by a 47-44 count.
Both teams entered with a 2-2 record on the season. Oskaloosa fell to Wathena in the first round while Valley Falls lost to eventual tourney champion KC Christian in the quarterfinals. Oskaloosa bounced back to win a tight game over JCN in the consolation semifinals while Valley Falls outlasted Horton by 4 points to set up the intracounty rivalry game for fifth.
The first half was nip-and-tuck as the teams traded scores throughout the first quarter to enter the second quarter tied at 12. Valley Falls got a 3-pointer from sophomore Alex Nottingham to open the scoring in the second quarter but the teams continued to stay close. The Bears took a 4-point lead with about 3 minutes left in the half but Dragons junior Riley Bunde hit a hook shot and senior Josh Kearney scored off a Bunde defensive rebound to tie the game. Nottingham hit a jumper to give the Dragons a 2-point lead with 1:20 left in the half but Bears sophomore Adam Bowser hit a 3-pointer with time dwindling to give Oskaloosa a 24-23 halftime lead.
Oskaloosa got some breathing room in the third quarter as the Bears started the half on a 6-point run to open up a 7-point lead. Dragons senior Ray Cook scored off a steal by junior Mitchell Streeter to get Valley Falls on the scoreboard with 4:34 to go in the quarter. The Dragons would have multiple chances to cut into the Bears’ lead, which held at 7 and became 9 on two free throws by senior post player Chase Tenpeny. The lead held there as the Bears took a 38-29 advantage into the fourth quarter.
The Dragons wouldn’t go away, though, as senior T.J. Breese hit a 3-pointer to start the scoring in the fourth quarter and a Cook short jumper cut the lead to 6 with about 4:30 to go in the game. Nottingham scored off a steal and then hit two free throws on the Dragons’ next possession to cut it to 43-41 Bears with 2:28 left. Dragons senior Dylan McKnight scored off a Cook steal to tie the game with about a minute to play but Bears senior guard J.T. Thurston hit two free throws with 53 seconds left to give the lead back to Oskaloosa.
Kearney hit one of two free throws with 33 seconds left to cut the lead to 1 but Tenpenny hit two free throws on the other end with 16 seconds left to make it 47-44 Oskaloosa. The Bears had a chance to put the game away but Thurston missed the front end of a one-and-one free throw situation and Bunde pulled down the rebound with 4 seconds left and the Dragons called a quick timeout.
With 2.9 seconds left and the ball at three-quarter court, Nottingham inbounded the ball and Tenpenny knocked it out of bounds with 1.5 seconds left. Nottingham got the ball to Cook for a game-tying 3-point attempt at the buzzer but two Bears got over on defense and blocked the shot to secure the 47-44 win.
Oskaloosa was led by 18 points and 6 rebounds from Tenpenny and 10 points and 5 rebounds from Thurston. Valley Falls was led by 15 points and 8 rebounds from Bunde and 11 points from Nottingham. Cook added 7 points and 5 rebounds.
The game proved to be a tight one even in the stats as both teams grabbed 17 rebounds and Valley Falls had 14 turnovers compared to 11 for the Bears.
Bears coach Rod Stottlemire said his team had its hopes set on better than fifth place but he was happy overall with his team’s performance.
“We only have three kids that played varsity last year,” Stottlemire said. “We’re still trying to find ourselves a little bit out there. I’ve been a lot happier with our defense the last couple games. I think the tournament showed the league this year is really even. We got a little crazy with the ball there in the fourth quarter but we play too fast sometimes. If I can get them to play 90 percent fast rather than 110 percent fast, we do a lot better.”
In other county action, Horton routed JCN for seventh place, 76-42, and, in the 11th place game, Jackson Heights defeated McLouth, 59-46.
County boys hit hardwoods
Two weeks into the season, there are already no unbeaten county high school boys’ varsity basketball teams but the six county coaches have hopes to piece together a postseason run once next February rolls around.
One new coach joins the lineup of coaches as Matt Tinsley moves east from the post at St. Marys to take over the Jefferson West boys from David Overstreet. Other than that, no county boys coach is in less than his third year at his school.
Perry-Lecompton was the best team in the county a season ago in finishing with a 19-3 record but dropped a tight substate semifinal game to Holton. After that the records get much closer to the .500 winning mark as JCN finished 11-10, Oskaloosa finished 11-11, Valley Falls and McLouth were 7-15 and West finished 6-15.
The six teams have gotten off to up-and-down starts as Perry-Lecompton has dropped games to Bishop Ward and Hayden while beating West to start 1-2; JCN started 2-0 but lost three straight in the Delaware Valley League Preseason Tourney to drop to 2-3; Oskaloosa led all county teams with a fifth-place finish in the DVL Tourney to move to 3-2; Valley Falls fell to Oskaloosa in the fifth-place game at the tourney to drop to 2-3; McLouth has stumbled to an 0-4 start; and West has dropped its first 3 games. All records are as of Monday, with Tuesday games pending at press time.
Following is a capsule review of each team entering the season in order of finish last season.
Perry-Lecompton
Coach: Jeff Dickson, fourth year
Last season: 19-3
This year’s athletic group of Kaw seniors were freshmen when Dickson came to Perry-Lecompton and the team has its sights set on advancing further into the postseason this season.
One early factor that works both positively for the players and somewhat against the team’s early chances was the run of the Kaw football team to the state football title game. The season wrapped up Thanksgiving weekend with the basketball players on the football team getting only a week to ready for action when the season started Dec. 5. The Kaws’ early record may reflect some rustiness, in part for that reason.
“These guys put a lot of work in and it paid off for them,” said Dickson of the football team’s efforts this season. “It’s a partnership here, 100 percent, between (football) coach Mike Paramore and I, so I don’t look at it like it cost me something here. If we got the chance to be in the football state championship every year, I can live with that. It’s one of those things where the kids see all their work come to fruition, and it’s fun to see them go against what has been the norm at this place.”
Dickson has good numbers in the program with 30 players out but said he would like to see even more out for the team. The squad includes eight seniors, including “twin towers” Andy Bowman and Joel Gantz. Other key returnees include senior guard Kyle Morgison and senior guard Shane Gimzo. Dickson said he is looking to junior Brad Phillips, junior guard Riley Shafer, senior forward Caleb Wege, junior guard Kameron Hurd, and senior guard Eric Hastert to also fill roles on the varsity.
“Andy Bowman has stepped up big time for us so far,” Dickson said. “He had a stat line versus Jeff West of 25 points, 13 rebounds, 4 steals and 6 blocks and he’s capable of doing that every night. Losing Caleb Denton to graduation was a big loss for us, because what he did for us leaves a void. We’ve got a lot of other great kids though. Brad Phillips is Mr. Fundamentals and plays hard, Riley handles the ball great to give us the ability to slide Kyle Morgison over to give him more opportunities to shoot, Caleb Wege is a really hard worker, one of those blue collar hard hat types of player, and Kameron has a great shot and has been a JV all star for us.”
Dickson said the team is sticking to his tenet of aggressive defense.
“We’re all about defense and getting it done with our pressure defense and doing that the right way,” Dickson said. “I’d like for us to get up and down the floor a little more. I think we have the most depth we’ve had since I came here.”
As the Kaws enter one of their last couple seasons in the Kaw Valley League before a move to the Big Seven, Dickson points to Mill Valley, Lansing, Piper and Basehor-Linwood as the front runners in this season’s KVL.
“I think we’ll be in the mix, too,” Dickson said. The team made the move from the midseason McLouth Tournament to the Baldwin Tournament in order to face more comparable sized schools to help prepare for substate. “It should be an extremely competitive league, but if we play like we’re capable, we can and should win it.”
Dickson said his squad still isn’t playing up to capability but will hopefully be in prime shape when the games really start to count.
“We’re not where we need to be but we’re getting there,” he said. “We’ve played pretty poorly as a team so far but we’ve had a couple good individual performances. The guys have proven that if we’re willing to put in the same amount of work kids in other districts do, including in the offseason, we can create a lot of excitement.”
Jefferson County North
Coach: Jim Brickell, 23nd year
Last season: 11-10
Brickell returns for his 23rd year as coach at North with only three seniors lost from last year’s squad that scratched out a winning record at 11-10.
Those seniors were key players for the Chargers but some underclassmen did make somewhat of a name for themselves last season and return to key this year’s team.
North’s 32 players include six seniors led by guard Riley Noll, guard/forward Dalton Speer and guard Matt Perry, who is bouncing back from an early injury. The varsity rotation also includes sophomore guard Jeff Hale, who saw quite a bit of varsity time as a freshman last season, junior guard Austin Gaspard, junior forward Nick Clark, who missed last season with an injury, junior post player Tyler Noll, senior forward Brendan Stevens, and sophomore forward Spencer Wentz.
“We’re still a work in progress,” Brickell said. “Riley has stepped his game up for us already and hit some big shots in games. Defensively we’ve been very good, but we haven’t been scoring very well. Some of that has to do with our deliberate style we play and some of it comes down to us not making shots.”
Despite their scoring problems the Chargers started the season by winning their first two games and then lost their third game in double overtime to Pleasant Ridge, who Brickell points to as one of the top teams in the Delaware Valley League along with Troy, Oskaloosa, Wathena and, potentially, Valley Falls.
“We had a couple opportunities to beat Pleasant Ridge there and couldn’t get the shot knocked down,” he said. The loss came in the quarterfinals of the DVL Preseason Tournament. “I think Valley Falls will be much improved, and Jackson Heights also looks improved from last season.”
Brickell said the team has impressed him with its mentality and thinks good things can happen if the offensive wrinkles are ironed out in the Chargers.
“We’re working a lot on man defense and we haven’t played it very much, if at all, so far but we’ve got to be able to play it. We need to start working on shooting. We’re not shooting well outside and that’s a big part of our game. Actually, I thought we might really struggle early but the guys have really impressed me. They play so darn hard. We talk about doing what it takes to win and they really want to win. They aren’t concerned with points, and who’s getting what, they want to win, and I like that.”
Oskaloosa
Coach: Rod Stottlemire, fourth year
Last season: 11-11
Stottlemire has some rebuilding to do with the Bears after losing a group of nine seniors, but a couple solid varsity players return to help this season’s cause.
The Bears have 21 players out for basketball, including seven seniors. Varsity leaders include senior guard J.T. Thurston, senior post players Chase Tenpenny and Adam Paavola and senior guard Lakota Coffman. Stottlemire said he is also looking to sophomore guards Adam Bowser and Levi Wade, and junior forward Brandon Barnes to step up as the season moves along.
“A lot of our success comes down to our ‘other’ guys stepping up,” Stottlemire said. “I think Levi and Brandon will improve quite a bit as the season moves along. We’re a young team, somewhat, so we look like a million bucks one night and not the next. Most times I want to play fast but with this group I’m trying to temper that speed a bit and keep it reined in.”
Stottlemire pointed to Wathena and KC Christian to lead the DVL this season, although he said it should be competitive all-around.
Stottlemire said the key for the Bears will likely be developing some on-court chemistry with the mix of a small amount of returning varsity experience and a batch of players new to the varsity level.
“We’ve gotta get more familiar with one another and learn what all of our roles are,” Stottlemire said. “There are times we’ve looked good and times we haven’t, but we’ve had a couple days in a row with some good practices. I’m hoping as they play together more that happens more and more.”
Valley Falls
Coach: Caleb Gatzemeyer, fourth year
Last season: 7-15
Gatzemeyer and the Dragons recovered well from a 0-win season in 2006-07 by winning 7 games last season, and Gatzemeyer has the sights set on taking that next step with an athletic group of players this season.
Gatzemeyer paces all county teams with 37 players out for basketball this year in Valley Falls, including a solid group of eight seniors. Perhaps his top two returnees are senior guard Ray Cook and junior post player Riley Bunde, who already has a 31-point game this season, but Gatzemeyer also mentions junior guard Mitchell Streeter, senior forward Josh Kearney, junior guard Logan Wynkoop, sophomore guard/forward Alex Nottingham, senior Ridge Glassel, senior Dylan McKnight, senior T.J. Breese, senior Cole Edwards, junior Blane Brosa, and sophomore Brooks Glassel as other parts of a deep Dragon varsity.
“I’m looking to the upperclassmen for the leadership this season,” Gatzemeyer said. “Riley had a good scoring game that first game and has been good at consistency in rebounding but has struggled a little bit scoring lately. Our last game (a loss to KC Christian) I thought we took a couple steps back but we’ve had some good practices the last couple days and are feeling pretty confident.”
Gatzemeyer also pointed to Wathena and KCC as the teams to beat in the DVL along with Pleasant Ridge. Overall he said the league is pretty level, however.
Gatzemeyer said he has solid expectations but is focusing on a game-to-game basis with a busy schedule before the Christmas break.
“I’ve seen good signs in terms of our athleticism and effort,” he said. “We’ve established a good run of classes of kids coming through that look sound, so hopefully we can get a good season under our belt here and move on. When you think about it, you don’t get a whole lot of practice time until you hit that break. We’ve got some big tests coming up over the next couple weeks. We’ll try to keep things rolling our way.”
McLouth
Coach: Jason Schroeder, third year
Last season: 7-15
The Bulldogs had their ups and downs last season and lost a good group of seniors from that squad as Schroeder enters his third season as head coach at McLouth.
Gone are graduated scoring leaders Mike Rome, Mark Stewart and Ryan Smith from last year’s squad, so Schroeder is looking to senior forward Derrick Crouse, senior forward Jarrod Bechard and junior guard Cole Batman to take up the slack this season. McLouth has 24 players out for the squad, including only three seniors. The other senior, guard Vinny Gonzalez, is another role player Schroeder is expecting production from along with freshman post player Gavin Swearngin, junior guard Tyler Drinnon, freshman guard Alex Courtney and freshman forward Alen Kramer.
“We’ve got some young players in the mix,” Schroeder said. “We’ve had a couple tough games early, but the last game we played (a loss to Immaculata), I felt we let one get away. I feel a bit better about how the team is going.”
Schroeder echoed Stottlemire’s and Gatzemeyer’s assessments of the DVL in naming Pleasant Ridge, KC Christian and Wathena the top teams of the DVL. He said a group of Troy, Horton, Valley Falls, Oskaloosa and JCN could also step up.
“I think the league is in three or four little tiers this season,” he said.
Schroeder said time may be the team’s friend this season as he feels some experience for the younger players with the core of upperclassmen leadership may help the season play out favorably for the Bulldogs.
“We keep working on individual skills. We may try a little bit more pressure defense this season,” Schroeder said. “I put in a new offense this season and the guys are still getting used to that, so I’m being patient there. The guys are working hard, and as long as we keep doing that, I think good things will start to happen. All they can do is their best and that’s what I ask for.”
Jefferson West
Coach: Matt Tinsley, first year
Last season: 6-15
The Tigers lost one of the best players in the county in post player Tom Shirley to graduation, but Tinsley’s first squad of Tigers gives him some ingredients to work with as he makes the transition to the job.
Tinsley spent the last two years as boys’ coach at St. Marys after some time as a graduate assistant coach on the Washburn University men’s basketball team. He has 25 players out for basketball at West, including only three seniors.
Tinsley said he is looking to those seniors – guard Willie Barnett, forward Cole Buckman and guard Briar Ploude – as the team leaders. The rest of the varsity squad is fleshed out by junior forward Alex Baker, junior forward Aaron Starr, junior point guard Sam DeMaranville, sophomore forward Dillon Roy, junior guard Bryce Miller and junior guard Tim Rhodd and junior guard Adam Fechter.
“We have quite a bit of injuries early but I thought it was a complete 180-degree turnaround from our first to our second game,” Tinsley said. The Tigers were routed by Silver Lake in the first game but bounced back to give Perry-Lecompton all it could handle. “We led Perry-Lecompton with two minutes left, so I was pleased with our effort in that game. If we play with that effort every game, we have good things ahead of us.”
Tinsley mentioned Nemaha Valley and Sabetha as two of the teams to beat in the Big Seven this season.
“I’d like to think we have a shot,” Tinsley said. “We’ve got some good tests early to show where we’ll be but I expect us to be near the top.”
Tinsley said he favors an up-tempo style of play.
“I want us to be tough on the defensive end and get after it from a team aspect. I want the guys to know what it takes to play hard all the time. Once they get that figured out I think we’ll be looking for better things.I was very pleased with how we bounced back from that first game. I think they’re understanding what we’re teaching them in practice. Hopefully we get all that together and can do some good things this season.”
One new coach joins the lineup of coaches as Matt Tinsley moves east from the post at St. Marys to take over the Jefferson West boys from David Overstreet. Other than that, no county boys coach is in less than his third year at his school.
Perry-Lecompton was the best team in the county a season ago in finishing with a 19-3 record but dropped a tight substate semifinal game to Holton. After that the records get much closer to the .500 winning mark as JCN finished 11-10, Oskaloosa finished 11-11, Valley Falls and McLouth were 7-15 and West finished 6-15.
The six teams have gotten off to up-and-down starts as Perry-Lecompton has dropped games to Bishop Ward and Hayden while beating West to start 1-2; JCN started 2-0 but lost three straight in the Delaware Valley League Preseason Tourney to drop to 2-3; Oskaloosa led all county teams with a fifth-place finish in the DVL Tourney to move to 3-2; Valley Falls fell to Oskaloosa in the fifth-place game at the tourney to drop to 2-3; McLouth has stumbled to an 0-4 start; and West has dropped its first 3 games. All records are as of Monday, with Tuesday games pending at press time.
Following is a capsule review of each team entering the season in order of finish last season.
Perry-Lecompton
Coach: Jeff Dickson, fourth year
Last season: 19-3
This year’s athletic group of Kaw seniors were freshmen when Dickson came to Perry-Lecompton and the team has its sights set on advancing further into the postseason this season.
One early factor that works both positively for the players and somewhat against the team’s early chances was the run of the Kaw football team to the state football title game. The season wrapped up Thanksgiving weekend with the basketball players on the football team getting only a week to ready for action when the season started Dec. 5. The Kaws’ early record may reflect some rustiness, in part for that reason.
“These guys put a lot of work in and it paid off for them,” said Dickson of the football team’s efforts this season. “It’s a partnership here, 100 percent, between (football) coach Mike Paramore and I, so I don’t look at it like it cost me something here. If we got the chance to be in the football state championship every year, I can live with that. It’s one of those things where the kids see all their work come to fruition, and it’s fun to see them go against what has been the norm at this place.”
Dickson has good numbers in the program with 30 players out but said he would like to see even more out for the team. The squad includes eight seniors, including “twin towers” Andy Bowman and Joel Gantz. Other key returnees include senior guard Kyle Morgison and senior guard Shane Gimzo. Dickson said he is looking to junior Brad Phillips, junior guard Riley Shafer, senior forward Caleb Wege, junior guard Kameron Hurd, and senior guard Eric Hastert to also fill roles on the varsity.
“Andy Bowman has stepped up big time for us so far,” Dickson said. “He had a stat line versus Jeff West of 25 points, 13 rebounds, 4 steals and 6 blocks and he’s capable of doing that every night. Losing Caleb Denton to graduation was a big loss for us, because what he did for us leaves a void. We’ve got a lot of other great kids though. Brad Phillips is Mr. Fundamentals and plays hard, Riley handles the ball great to give us the ability to slide Kyle Morgison over to give him more opportunities to shoot, Caleb Wege is a really hard worker, one of those blue collar hard hat types of player, and Kameron has a great shot and has been a JV all star for us.”
Dickson said the team is sticking to his tenet of aggressive defense.
“We’re all about defense and getting it done with our pressure defense and doing that the right way,” Dickson said. “I’d like for us to get up and down the floor a little more. I think we have the most depth we’ve had since I came here.”
As the Kaws enter one of their last couple seasons in the Kaw Valley League before a move to the Big Seven, Dickson points to Mill Valley, Lansing, Piper and Basehor-Linwood as the front runners in this season’s KVL.
“I think we’ll be in the mix, too,” Dickson said. The team made the move from the midseason McLouth Tournament to the Baldwin Tournament in order to face more comparable sized schools to help prepare for substate. “It should be an extremely competitive league, but if we play like we’re capable, we can and should win it.”
Dickson said his squad still isn’t playing up to capability but will hopefully be in prime shape when the games really start to count.
“We’re not where we need to be but we’re getting there,” he said. “We’ve played pretty poorly as a team so far but we’ve had a couple good individual performances. The guys have proven that if we’re willing to put in the same amount of work kids in other districts do, including in the offseason, we can create a lot of excitement.”
Jefferson County North
Coach: Jim Brickell, 23nd year
Last season: 11-10
Brickell returns for his 23rd year as coach at North with only three seniors lost from last year’s squad that scratched out a winning record at 11-10.
Those seniors were key players for the Chargers but some underclassmen did make somewhat of a name for themselves last season and return to key this year’s team.
North’s 32 players include six seniors led by guard Riley Noll, guard/forward Dalton Speer and guard Matt Perry, who is bouncing back from an early injury. The varsity rotation also includes sophomore guard Jeff Hale, who saw quite a bit of varsity time as a freshman last season, junior guard Austin Gaspard, junior forward Nick Clark, who missed last season with an injury, junior post player Tyler Noll, senior forward Brendan Stevens, and sophomore forward Spencer Wentz.
“We’re still a work in progress,” Brickell said. “Riley has stepped his game up for us already and hit some big shots in games. Defensively we’ve been very good, but we haven’t been scoring very well. Some of that has to do with our deliberate style we play and some of it comes down to us not making shots.”
Despite their scoring problems the Chargers started the season by winning their first two games and then lost their third game in double overtime to Pleasant Ridge, who Brickell points to as one of the top teams in the Delaware Valley League along with Troy, Oskaloosa, Wathena and, potentially, Valley Falls.
“We had a couple opportunities to beat Pleasant Ridge there and couldn’t get the shot knocked down,” he said. The loss came in the quarterfinals of the DVL Preseason Tournament. “I think Valley Falls will be much improved, and Jackson Heights also looks improved from last season.”
Brickell said the team has impressed him with its mentality and thinks good things can happen if the offensive wrinkles are ironed out in the Chargers.
“We’re working a lot on man defense and we haven’t played it very much, if at all, so far but we’ve got to be able to play it. We need to start working on shooting. We’re not shooting well outside and that’s a big part of our game. Actually, I thought we might really struggle early but the guys have really impressed me. They play so darn hard. We talk about doing what it takes to win and they really want to win. They aren’t concerned with points, and who’s getting what, they want to win, and I like that.”
Oskaloosa
Coach: Rod Stottlemire, fourth year
Last season: 11-11
Stottlemire has some rebuilding to do with the Bears after losing a group of nine seniors, but a couple solid varsity players return to help this season’s cause.
The Bears have 21 players out for basketball, including seven seniors. Varsity leaders include senior guard J.T. Thurston, senior post players Chase Tenpenny and Adam Paavola and senior guard Lakota Coffman. Stottlemire said he is also looking to sophomore guards Adam Bowser and Levi Wade, and junior forward Brandon Barnes to step up as the season moves along.
“A lot of our success comes down to our ‘other’ guys stepping up,” Stottlemire said. “I think Levi and Brandon will improve quite a bit as the season moves along. We’re a young team, somewhat, so we look like a million bucks one night and not the next. Most times I want to play fast but with this group I’m trying to temper that speed a bit and keep it reined in.”
Stottlemire pointed to Wathena and KC Christian to lead the DVL this season, although he said it should be competitive all-around.
Stottlemire said the key for the Bears will likely be developing some on-court chemistry with the mix of a small amount of returning varsity experience and a batch of players new to the varsity level.
“We’ve gotta get more familiar with one another and learn what all of our roles are,” Stottlemire said. “There are times we’ve looked good and times we haven’t, but we’ve had a couple days in a row with some good practices. I’m hoping as they play together more that happens more and more.”
Valley Falls
Coach: Caleb Gatzemeyer, fourth year
Last season: 7-15
Gatzemeyer and the Dragons recovered well from a 0-win season in 2006-07 by winning 7 games last season, and Gatzemeyer has the sights set on taking that next step with an athletic group of players this season.
Gatzemeyer paces all county teams with 37 players out for basketball this year in Valley Falls, including a solid group of eight seniors. Perhaps his top two returnees are senior guard Ray Cook and junior post player Riley Bunde, who already has a 31-point game this season, but Gatzemeyer also mentions junior guard Mitchell Streeter, senior forward Josh Kearney, junior guard Logan Wynkoop, sophomore guard/forward Alex Nottingham, senior Ridge Glassel, senior Dylan McKnight, senior T.J. Breese, senior Cole Edwards, junior Blane Brosa, and sophomore Brooks Glassel as other parts of a deep Dragon varsity.
“I’m looking to the upperclassmen for the leadership this season,” Gatzemeyer said. “Riley had a good scoring game that first game and has been good at consistency in rebounding but has struggled a little bit scoring lately. Our last game (a loss to KC Christian) I thought we took a couple steps back but we’ve had some good practices the last couple days and are feeling pretty confident.”
Gatzemeyer also pointed to Wathena and KCC as the teams to beat in the DVL along with Pleasant Ridge. Overall he said the league is pretty level, however.
Gatzemeyer said he has solid expectations but is focusing on a game-to-game basis with a busy schedule before the Christmas break.
“I’ve seen good signs in terms of our athleticism and effort,” he said. “We’ve established a good run of classes of kids coming through that look sound, so hopefully we can get a good season under our belt here and move on. When you think about it, you don’t get a whole lot of practice time until you hit that break. We’ve got some big tests coming up over the next couple weeks. We’ll try to keep things rolling our way.”
McLouth
Coach: Jason Schroeder, third year
Last season: 7-15
The Bulldogs had their ups and downs last season and lost a good group of seniors from that squad as Schroeder enters his third season as head coach at McLouth.
Gone are graduated scoring leaders Mike Rome, Mark Stewart and Ryan Smith from last year’s squad, so Schroeder is looking to senior forward Derrick Crouse, senior forward Jarrod Bechard and junior guard Cole Batman to take up the slack this season. McLouth has 24 players out for the squad, including only three seniors. The other senior, guard Vinny Gonzalez, is another role player Schroeder is expecting production from along with freshman post player Gavin Swearngin, junior guard Tyler Drinnon, freshman guard Alex Courtney and freshman forward Alen Kramer.
“We’ve got some young players in the mix,” Schroeder said. “We’ve had a couple tough games early, but the last game we played (a loss to Immaculata), I felt we let one get away. I feel a bit better about how the team is going.”
Schroeder echoed Stottlemire’s and Gatzemeyer’s assessments of the DVL in naming Pleasant Ridge, KC Christian and Wathena the top teams of the DVL. He said a group of Troy, Horton, Valley Falls, Oskaloosa and JCN could also step up.
“I think the league is in three or four little tiers this season,” he said.
Schroeder said time may be the team’s friend this season as he feels some experience for the younger players with the core of upperclassmen leadership may help the season play out favorably for the Bulldogs.
“We keep working on individual skills. We may try a little bit more pressure defense this season,” Schroeder said. “I put in a new offense this season and the guys are still getting used to that, so I’m being patient there. The guys are working hard, and as long as we keep doing that, I think good things will start to happen. All they can do is their best and that’s what I ask for.”
Jefferson West
Coach: Matt Tinsley, first year
Last season: 6-15
The Tigers lost one of the best players in the county in post player Tom Shirley to graduation, but Tinsley’s first squad of Tigers gives him some ingredients to work with as he makes the transition to the job.
Tinsley spent the last two years as boys’ coach at St. Marys after some time as a graduate assistant coach on the Washburn University men’s basketball team. He has 25 players out for basketball at West, including only three seniors.
Tinsley said he is looking to those seniors – guard Willie Barnett, forward Cole Buckman and guard Briar Ploude – as the team leaders. The rest of the varsity squad is fleshed out by junior forward Alex Baker, junior forward Aaron Starr, junior point guard Sam DeMaranville, sophomore forward Dillon Roy, junior guard Bryce Miller and junior guard Tim Rhodd and junior guard Adam Fechter.
“We have quite a bit of injuries early but I thought it was a complete 180-degree turnaround from our first to our second game,” Tinsley said. The Tigers were routed by Silver Lake in the first game but bounced back to give Perry-Lecompton all it could handle. “We led Perry-Lecompton with two minutes left, so I was pleased with our effort in that game. If we play with that effort every game, we have good things ahead of us.”
Tinsley mentioned Nemaha Valley and Sabetha as two of the teams to beat in the Big Seven this season.
“I’d like to think we have a shot,” Tinsley said. “We’ve got some good tests early to show where we’ll be but I expect us to be near the top.”
Tinsley said he favors an up-tempo style of play.
“I want us to be tough on the defensive end and get after it from a team aspect. I want the guys to know what it takes to play hard all the time. Once they get that figured out I think we’ll be looking for better things.I was very pleased with how we bounced back from that first game. I think they’re understanding what we’re teaching them in practice. Hopefully we get all that together and can do some good things this season.”
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