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The
Official Newspaper of Anamosa, located in Jones County, Iowa
Anamosa News
Since 1855
 Thursday,
November 30, 2006 |
Anamosa girls hoop for the holidays
By
Daryl Schepanski - Sports Editor |
ANAMOSA — A very young Raider girls basketball squad took to the floor for the first time in the 2006-2007 campaign facing what very well could be their toughest challenge of the winter.
Anamosa, hosting their annual Holiday Basketball Tournament with some of the state’s top programs including class 2A No. 10 ranked Davenport Assumption, class 3A No. 4 ranked Cedar Rapids Xavier as well as North Cedar.
“It doesn’t get much tougher than those teams,” said Anamosa girls basketball coach Jack Leighty as his team finished fourth in the tournament. “We opened against Davenport Assumption and I thought played them about as tough as we could. We hung around for a little while and frustrated them with our scrappy play. I was pleasantly surprised.”
Anamosa (0-2) was handed a 62-28 defeat at the hands of the No. 10 ranked Knights, but the game seemed more competitive than the final score.
“I thought so anyway,” said Leighty about the way his team battled against a Davenport Assumption team who started girls listed at 6’2’’, 6’1’’ and 5’11’’. “They started to take control in the second quarter but we battled all the way to the end.”
The Raider girls trailed just 6-4 with two minutes remaining in the first quarter before the Knights went on a 7-0 spurt to take a 13-4 lead with a minute left. At the first quarter horn, Anamosa trailed 15-8. |
Soaring sophomore
Anamosa sophomore Paige Goetz soars over Davenport Assumption’s Lauren Lybbert during opening round action from the Raider girls’ Holiday Basketball Tournament Monday, November 20. (Journal-Eureka photo by Daryl Schepanski) |
“I think we surprised a lot of people with the way we played and made Assumption work for their points,” said Leighty. “We might have surprised ourselves a little bit too.”
The Knights took control of the contest in the second quarter going on a huge 17-5 run to take a commanding 32-13 lead at the half.
“Defensively we were able to force Assumption into taking outside shots,” said Leighty. “Early on they had a hard time hitting those shots, but then their press got to us and they started getting a lot of easy lay-ups.”
Traci Dirks kept Anamosa hopes alive scoring all eight of her points in the first half battling against the tall and talented Knight front line players.
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Set to score
Raider junior Christy Coons posts up and looks for a pass from teammate Paige Goetz (left) during Anamosa’s tournament consolation contest hosting North Cedar Tuesday, November 21. (Journal-Eureka photo by Daryl Schepanski) |
“Traci battled the best she could,” said Leighty. “We had a hard time even getting into our offense just trying to break their press, but when we did, good things happened.”
The Knights continued to make things difficult on the Anamosa offense in the second half as well as the hosts were outscored 30-15 over the final 16 minutes ending with the 34-point defeat.
“We struggled on offense and had a lot of turnovers,” said Leighty. “But for the most part, I was proud of the way the girls held their composure against a very talented team like Assumption.”
Paige Goetz led the Raiders scoring nine points and added three rebounds while Kayla Sanborn and Dirks dished out two assists each.
The loss dropped Anamosa to the tournament consolation contest where the Raiders were handed a 63-51 loss against North Cedar.
“It looked like we might get blown out against another Knights team,” said Leighty. “We put on our press in the second half and got back into the game with it.”
The Raiders trailed 17-10 after one quarter and were facing a 35-22 deficit at the halftime break.
Anamosa trailed by 15 points entering the final frame and closed to within nine points several times but could not get closer in the 12-point setback.
“This was a huge adjustment for a young team to have to come back and play without a practice to prepare,” said Leighty. “We went from guarding the post to trying to guard the perimeter and didn’t do a very good job.”
North Cedar connected seven times from beyond 3-point land in the first half.
Dirks and Goetz paced the Raider offense with 17 and 16 points, respectively while freshman Jackie Engelbart added an impressive 13 points off the Anamosa bench.
Davenport Assumption won the Raider tournament title topping Cedar Rapids Xavier 54-41 in the championship contest.
The Saints defeated North Cedar Monday after taking a 52-34 final over the Knights. |
Olin’s Smith named 2nd-team all-state football
By
Daryl Schepanski - Sports Editor |
DES MOINES — Putting up mind-boggling numbers for the Olin football team this past fall has earned Lion senior Justin Smith a rare, but well a deserved honor.
Smith, who grabbed 68 passes for 1,173 yards and 15 touchdowns helping the Olin football team to a 4-5 record overall in 2006, was named by the Iowa Newspaper Association (INA) as a class A all-state 2nd-team selection recently.
“This is huge for Justin and huge for the program,” said Olin football coach Jamie Fuhrmeister who coached two all-state players a year ago in Colton Hansen and Brock Rouse. “Justin is very deserving of this honor and is clearly one of the top receivers in the state of Iowa.”
The INA placed two wide receivers each to three all-state teams named with Woodbury-Central’s Landon Wright also named to the class A all-state 2nd-team pick with Smith.
“A lot of people might say we run a type of offense that produces a lot of yards and Justin just was the beneficiary of all the passing we do but that wouldn’t be correct,” said Fuhrmeister.
“Justin still had to actually make the catches and then after making them, run with the ball to pick up all those yards. He’s a very gifted athlete who did amazing things with the football after the catch. That’s where he picked up most of his yards.”
Earning class A 1st-team all-state honors at wide receiver were IKM senior Sean Birks as well as Wapsie Valley junior Garrett McGrane.
Claiming 3rd-team class A all-state honors at wide receiver were Postville senior Corby Friederich and Gehlen Cathloic senior Alex Loutsch.
“Justin had to work very hard to become the football player he is,” said Fuhrmeister. “We knew when we could get him the football, good things could happen. And they usually did.”
Smith was one of six class A district 6 players named to INA all-state teams.
Joining Smith were Lisbon junior Trent Rasmussen (2nd-team quarterback), North Tama senior Alex Pokorny (2nd-team defensive lineman), Central City senior Mitch Blyth (2nd-team linebacker), North Tama senior Kyle Herink (3rd-team offensive lineman), and Cedar Falls Northern University High junior Corey Holmes (3rd-team defensive lineman).
Smith has received interest from colleges including Coe, Simpson, Central and Luther College but may also try and walk-on taking his skills to Iowa State University. |
Depth keys Midland triumph
By
Daryl Schepanski - Sports Editor |
WYOMING — Running players on and off the floor all game long hosting Lisbon Tuesday, November 21, the Midland girls basketball team pulled away for a big 56-35 triumph in the 2006-2007 season-opener for both clubs.
“Our rotation patterns change as the game goes and we just try to find girls who mix well together on that night,” said Eagle girls basketball coach Josh Bentley after the resounding 21-point rout of the Lions. “We use all our girls because they all can contribute and they all do things differently which we feel can cause possible match-up problems. Plus the girls know if they work hard, they will play.”
Midland (1-0) played very well against the Lions taking a 9-3 first quarter lead before holding a 22-12 advantage at the half.
The third quarter saw the Eagles begin to get into an offensive rhythm outscoring Lisbon 19-6 in the frame to take a commanding 41-18 lead into the fourth quarter.
“I think coming out in the third quarter the way we did was a big help in us winning this game,” said Bentley. “We jumped out to a big lead and after that, started working on execution and working on some other things that we need to improve on as the year goes on.” |
Dribble drive
Midland’s Shasta Eganhouse grabs a loose ball and drives up the court for the Eagles during their 21-point triumph hosting Lisbon Tuesday, November 21. (Journal-Eureka photo by Daryl Schepanski) |
Posting up
Midland’s Lisa Field posts up Lisbon’s Hanna Light late in the Eagles’ impressive season-opening 56-35 rout hosting the Lions Tuesday, November 21. (Journal-Eureka photo by Daryl Schepanski) |
The fourth quarter saw both teams light up the scoreboard as the Eagles and Lions combined to score 32 points in the frame.
“Our effort was good, but I was a little disappointed with our execution and some leadership,” said Bentley. “But I thought as a whole, the team hustled and really got after it and had great support for each other.”
Sammy Reid paced the Midland girls’ attack scoring 15 points while also swiping six steals.
Caitlin Bisinger added 12 points for the hosts who tallied 21 steals and 33 rebounds in the resounding triumph. Amanda Hansen came through with five steals and five assists. |
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