| | 
The
Official Newspaper of Anamosa, located in Jones County, Iowa
Anamosa News
Since 1855
 Thursday,
January 19, 2006 |
Rough stretch of basketball
By
Daryl Schepanski - Sports Editor |
License to score
Anamosa freshman Paige Goetz attacks the rim and scores for the Raiders during their tough 60-40 setback hosting a talented Ed-Co team Friday, January 13. (Journal-Eureka photo by Daryl Schepanski) |
ANAMOSA - Walking out onto the court Friday, January 13, Raider girls basketball fans might have thought it was surely going to be an unlucky night for their team as the Anamosa girls appeared outsized and outmatched by visiting Ed-Co.
“That was never the case,” said Anamosa girls basketball coach Jack Leighty after his team was handed a 60-40 setback at the hands of a very talented Viking team. “They definitely had a lot of size and that's something we just can't compete with. But what we do to try and make some of that up in hustle and compete to the best of our abilities and in this game I thought we did all of those things. It just didn't work out for us on the scoreboard but the girls wearing blue and white did everything we as coaches asked them to do.”
Anamosa (3-10, 3-6) gave their usual emotional effort battling Ed-Co players hard for loose balls and working the offense to get good looks at the basket.
“But those good looks just weren't falling for us in this game,” said Leighty. “We missed some easy shots early in the game that could have kept us closer for a little longer but when Ed-Co is getting second and third chances grabbing offensive rebounds and scoring with easy put-backs, that makes things pretty tough on us, especially getting high percentage shots going up against their big girls inside.”
The Raiders trailed 14-9 after one quarter and were staring at a 28-16 deficit at the halftime break after the Vikings used a 14-7 spurt in the second stanza to build their 12-point advantage.
|
Ed-Co gradually added to their advantage all game long building as much as a 26-point lead before settling in for the 20-point triumph.
Traci Dirks led Anamosa scorers tallying 10 points while Kelsi Dearborn chipped in with eight more.
The Raiders traveled to face No. 15 ranked Cascade Tuesday, January 10, and in a solid effort against a very talented team, were eventually handed a 60-40 defeat but not before giving the Cougars all they could handle to the halftime break.
“We knew Cascade had some outstanding athletes in Ashley Arlen and Lana Otting,” said Leighty. “Our goal was to limit their opportunities and make some other girls beat us. I thought we achieved that in this game.”
The Raiders battled well against the Cougars leading 9-4 after one frame forcing the hosts out of a 2-3 zone and into a man-to-man defense after holding the basketball for the game's first several minutes.
At the break the Raiders were knotted in a 20-20 tie.
“We gave ourselves an opportunity,” said Leighty. “But then their athletic ability became too tough to stop for that long and things unraveled on us in the third quarter.”
Cascade went on a huge 26-5 run in the frame and built a big 46-25 lead heading into the final frame.
“They had girls hitting shots from everywhere,” said Leighty. “We did what we wanted and forced other players than Arlen and Otting to score and unfortunately for us, they did.”
Dearborn played a sensational game for the visitors leading the team with 15 points connecting five times from the field and was a perfect 5-of-5 from the free throw line. |
 Getting better each and every game
By
Daryl Schepanski - Sports Editor |
Hart keeps on beating
Anamosa senior Derek Hart scores against a pair of Ed-Co defenders during the Raiders' 47-39 victory hosting the Vikings Friday, January 13. Hart scored six points in the contest as Anamosa scored 17 points over the game's final eight minutes to seal the triumph. (Journal-Eureka photo by Daryl Schepanski) |
ANAMOSA - Getting contributions from up and down his line-up, Anamosa boys basketball coach Kevin Barnes' team finished what they started Friday, January 13, pulling out a big 47-39 Tri-Rivers Conference triumph hosting Ed-Co.
“This was really a team effort,” said Barnes after the eight-point victory. “We played 11 kids tonight and all 11 of them were able to contribute in some way. I am also happy for our kids because we finished one out tonight, which is something we've been working on.”
Anamosa (3-6, 3-4) used an impressive second quarter spurt to jump-start the offense outscoring the Vikings 15-5 in the frame to take a 23-16 halftime advantage.
Both clubs started the contest slow offensively as neither club tallied points until three minutes into the contest. Ed-Co held a slim 11-8 advantage after one quarter thanks to a solid first few minutes from Ryan Putz, who scored 10 first half points.
“We did not shoot the ball well, but we got second and third attempts and that made the difference,” said Barnes. “Offensive rebounding, which is the result of good effort, is the reason we won this ball game.” |
The Raiders started the second half strong opening a 30-20 lead minutes into the frame, but a 10-0 spurt by the visitors to close the third quarter cut the Anamosa advantage to a mere six points entering the final eight minute stretch.
In that final frame, one the Raiders have struggled at times to finish this season after playing well for three quarters, Anamosa looked like a grizzled veteran club rather than the inexperienced but gradually improving one they are.
“It was nice to get our first home win of the season too,” said Barnes. “We finally got over that mental barrier.”
Colten Kelly was sensational for the Raiders leading all scorers with 20 points drilling 7-of-19 from the floor and 2-of-2 from the free throw line to go with seven rebounds and a pair of steals in a fine all-around effort.
Kelly's sophomore running mate Tony Lueken added 11 points, five rebounds and four assists from the point.
Anamosa hosted Cascade Tuesday, January 10, and behind a sluggish start to the contest offensively and defensively, were handed a tough 60-47 defeat.
“We did not get off to the kind of start we wanted to, but we battled all night long and cut their lead to six points late in the third and back to seven midway through the fourth quarter,” said Barnes as the visitors jumped all over the Raiders early on taking a commanding 18-6 advantage after just one quarter. “We never got over the hump, but we battled.”
Cascade's Kiel Merfeld and Tom Noonan sparked the Cougars to the early advantage scoring 10 and nine points, respectively in the first half while Peter Supple and Mason Gassmann added 3-pointers as the Raiders struggled to find their form.
“To get better every day,” said Barnes. “That is our one and only goal this season. I think we saw evidence of that tonight.”
Anamosa's offense was spread out as five different players scored points with Kelly, Lueken, Miles Weber, Derek Hart and Drew Carrier all keeping hopes alive for a comeback.
At the break Anamosa was on the short end of a 28-15 score as the Raiders held the Cougars to 10 points in the second stanza while scoring nine of their own before the break.
The third quarter saw Anamosa explode offensively outscoring the visitors 17-12 in the frame including an impressive 15-5 spurt that brought Raider fans to their feet.
Anamosa kept chipping away in the fourth quarter as well but key shots, and free throws by Cascade's Bryan Brackemeyer. Merfeld, Supple and Tom Noonan also stepped to the charity stripe and sank key free throws down the stretch to pull away from the resurgent Raiders.
“We also saw life from Drew Carrier tonight,” said Barnes. “We have been trying all year long to get our inside people to be more aggressive and tonight Drew showed big improvement in that area. I liked the way he played tonight.”
Kelly led the Raider offense scoring 17 points and keyed the second half resurgence scoring 14 points over the game's final 16 minutes.
Hart chipped in with nine points while Lueken added seven more.
Anamosa stepped out of Tri-Rivers Conference action Saturday, January 14, and were handed a rough 48-38 setback at North Cedar.
“All I'll say about this game is that it was our poorest effort of the season both coaches and players,” said Barnes. “The only good to come out of this was that Mitch Kelly played his best game of the season.”
The start was another rough one for the Raiders as the Knights exploded to a 17-4 first quarter lead and never looked back in taking the 10-point final.
The 13-point advantage was the largest for the hosts early on. Anamosa began to gradually chip away through the second quarter but could make to concerted spurt and were looking up at a 25-16 halftime deficit.
A slow showing at the beginning of the third quarter as well had the Raiders down by as many as 16 points before a 20-14 run to end the third frame and over the entire final eight minutes of the contest closed out the 10-point setback.
Anamosa struggled mightily from beyond the arc shooting just 18-percent connecting on 3-of-17 attempts and were just 1-of-6 from the free throw line. Overall the Raiders shot 40-percent from the field thanks in large part to shooting a solid 54-percent from inside the arc. |
Midland defense puts clamps on Cal-Wheat
By
Daryl Schepanski - Sports Editor |
High to the hoop
Eagle Joel Lasack flips up a shot during an early Midland run at Central City during the Eagles' bitter 34-33 defeat. (Journal-Eureka photo by Daryl Schepanski) |
WHEATLAND - It didn't matter where the Calamus-Wheatland boys basketball team was shooting the basketball Tuesday, January 10, it just wasn't going through the hoop and most of that was because of the play of a very stingy Midland defense.
“We had a nice team effort, getting contributions from several players and games with many contributors are always fun to watch,” said Eagle boys basketball coach Ben Eastburn after guiding his club to a 58-45 victory in the Warriors' gym. “We felt coming into this game that we could get some scoring opportunities in the post and the guards did a nice job of getting the ball to the post and once there, our post players either were fouled or got a high percentage shot.”
Midland (2-10, 1-3) shot 42-percent from 2-point range and added a sensational 77-percent shooting night from the free throw line while holding Calamus-Wheatland to a mere 33-percent shooting night overall including limiting the Warriors to just 13-percent shooting from the 3-point line.
It was the Warriors however who jumped out to the early lead taking a 10-9 advantage after the first quarter of play, but the visitors used a 15-11 spurt over the second quarter to take a 24-21 halftime lead and it was one they would not lose again the rest of the night.
“It was nice to have Luke Fowler back and we also got an excellent game from Jed Holland in his first start of the year,” said Eastburn.
“Riley Williams, Ryan Dunne and Joel Lasack made nice contributions as well. It's nice to see the hard work pay off.”
The Eagles worked to a 15-8 advantage in the third quarter as well taking a 39-29 lead into the final frame.
Both teams picked up the offensive pace over the game's final eight minutes as Midland tallied 19 points in the quarter while the Warriors made several runs at the Eagles, but could never cut significantly into the Midland lead scoring 16 points in the frame. |
The Eagles balanced scoring attack was also tough for the Warriors to defend as eight different players scored in the contest led by Fowler and Holland who each tallied 13 points. Scott Willimack chipped in with 12 more while Lasack, Dunne, Williams, Zach Bonney and Cameron Sorgenfrey all added to the scoring column.
The Warriors also struggled shooting from the free throw line where the hosts connected on just 48-percent of their shots (12-of-25).
Fowler, playing his first game in nearly a month, was sensational drilling 4-of-7 shots from the floor as well as 5-of-6 from the free throw line to go with eight rebounds.
The Eagles kept the road show going traveling to Central City in a non-conference tilt Saturday, January 14, and in a thriller with the Wildcats, were handed a bitter 34-33 defeat.
“We had another solid effort from the team,” said Eastburn. “The team did a nice job of running the offense. We changed up defenses and the players handled whatever Central City threw at us. I'm sure we'd like to replay the last eight seconds though and get a shot off, but I'm not going to let the last eight seconds ruin the other 31-minutes and 52-seconds we played very well.”
The Eagles took a 29-28 lead at the third quarter buzzer when Willimack drilled an amazing three-quarter court heave as the horn sounded, but a low scoring final frame went the way of the Wildcats.
|
Rally the team
Midland's Scott Willimack drilled three third quarter treys helping the Eagles at Central City Saturday, January 14. (Journal-Eureka photo by Daryl Schepanski) |
“I'm proud of the way we handled a close game on the road,” said Eastburn. “I know if we were put back into that situation, we would treat it differently because of what we learned from this game.”
Fowler scored both of the Eagles' baskets over the game's final eight minutes at the 4:10 mark and 2:20 mark of the fourth, but with the game hanging in the balance and Midland holding the final possession, the Central City defense prevented the visitors from taking a last chance game-winning shot attempt.
Willimack rallied the Midland team drilling three third quarter treys and scored 13 points overall while Fowler added 12 more for the visitors.
Central City led 9-4 after one quarter and took a 21-14 lead into the halftime break. |
PO
Box 108, 208 W. Main Street, Anamosa, IA 52205
319-462-3511,
FAX 319-462-4540
Copyright
Anamosa Publications
Anamosa Journal-Eureka / Town Crier 2005
Thede Web
Works - Website
Questions |