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The
Official Newspaper of Anamosa, located in Jones County, Iowa
Anamosa News
Since 1855
 Thursday, December 27, 2007
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Anamosa boys earn straight A’s
By
Daryl Schepanski - Sports Editor |
ANAMOSA— The challenge of playing some of the best teams in eastern Iowa as a new member of the WaMaC Conference this winter hasn’t seemed to faze the Anamosa boys basketball team, but the Raiders were put to the test once again Tuesday, December 18, hosting a talented West Delaware team.
“I was embarrassed with our effort last time out against Maquoketa and the kids sure responded tonight,” said Raider boys basketball coach Kevin Barnes as his team pulled away late for a huge 57-47 win hosting the Hawks in the final test before taking a two-week Christmas break. “I am so proud of our kids and I told them tonight was one of the smartest basketball games I can remember our team playing. I thought we just made great decisions all night long. When you make good decisions, you take good shots and you tend to make more shots and add with that great effort, that’s called playing well and smart.”
Anamosa (4-2, 3-1) took a 41-35 lead into the fourth quarter and appeared ready to pull away from West Delaware, one of the top teams in the WaMaC Conference over the last 15 years.
“They’ve got a great tradition there in Manchester and know how to win,” said Barnes. “We’re showing right now that we’re starting to learn a little bit about how to finish off games and win ourselves.”
The Hawks made a run to start the fourth quarter and quickly sliced into the Raider advantage when, which was as large as eight points in the third quarter, when Ben Lechtenberg made a pair of shots and added a free throw while Chris Crawford also added a free throw to tie the score at 41-41 with 6:18 remaining.
Colten Kelly answered with a shot for the Raiders which was answered by Lechtenberg with 5:51 left. |
C.J. vs. B.J.
Anamosa senior Colten (James) Kelly attacks West Delaware’s B.J. Hermsen during first half action from the Raiders’ impressive 57-47 triumph over the Hawks Tuesday, December 18. Kelly was amazing for the hosts scoring a game-high 28 points in the WaMaC Conference win. (Journal-Eureka photo by Daryl Schepanski)
Attacking the defense
Anamosa senior Tony Lueken attacks the West Delaware defense for the Raiders as Anamosa pulled away for a thrilling 57-47 win over a talented Hawks’ team Tuesday, December 18. Lueken scored 13 points and had five assists in the triumph. (Journal-Eureka photo by Daryl Schepanski) |
Kelly swished 1-of-2 free throws giving Anamosa a 44-43 lead, but when B.J. Hermsen drilled a 3-pointer, the Hawks had a 46-44 lead.
“That was when we made our run and finished the game exactly the way we wanted to,” said Barnes. “I thought Tony Lueken, Skyler Miell and Colten deserve most of the credit for this win,” said Barnes. “Those guys have been through it before and they know it takes great effort every night out and I thought we rode their leadership tonight.”
Lueken answered Hermsen’s trey with a clutch 3-pointer of his own giving Anamosa a lead they would not lose the rest of the way.
“This was Tony’s best game of the season,” said Barnes as Lueken’s bomb from beyond the arc gave his team a 47-46 lead and ignited a game-changing 11-0 run to close out the win. “This was Skyler’s best floor game of the season and Colten was... Colten.”
Kelly drilled a shot putting the Raiders up by three points and with 2:14 remaining in the fourth quarter and the game still hanging in the balance, Josh English stepped to the free throw line and connected on two huge charity stripe shots giving Anamosa a 51-46 edge.
“Josh played well and hit those two huge free throws,” said Barnes. “Nic Jansen played his best game of the season, Jason gave us some great minutes and also hit two big free throws and Richie got the start tonight and was solid.”
While the Raiders responded to the pressure in the final frame, West Delaware seemed to come unnerved as Lechtenberg missed two front end of 1-and-1 free throws while Anamosa continued to show the poise of a champion.
Breon stepped to the line and with 1:35 left to play, added two more clutch free throws extending the hosts’ advantage to 53-46.
Crawford was at the line for the Hawks with 1:25 left and again missed a free throw.
With West Delaware down by seven points and the clock ticking away, the Hawks were forced to foul, sending Kelly to the line with 1:03 left.
Kelly swished two more free throws and after West Delaware failed to answer on the other end, Miell added two more charity stripe shots with 37.3 seconds left cementing Anamosa’s huge triumph and closing out the amazing 11-0 spurt.
The game started well for the Raiders as Anamosa led 14-10 after one frame and were tied with the Hawks at the half at 26-26.
Kelly fueled the hosts’ hot start scoring 14 of Anamosa’s 26 first half points drilling jumpers from all over the court and even attacked the rim going up against West Delaware’s 6’7” two-time first-team all-state star Hermsen.
While the first half saw the two teams trade leads back-and-forth, the Raiders began to take control out of the halftime break going on a 15-9 run to take their six-point advantage into the final frame.
Kelly finished with a game-high 28 points connecting on 12-of-19 shots from the floor while also adding nine rebounds, four assists and two steals. Lueken finished with 13 points, five rebounds, five assists and two steals. Kurt Vavricek added seven boards for the Raiders.
“Kurt got two offensive rebounds on the same possession, a huge possession that ended with Tony hitting a three to put us ahead to stay. This was just a great night for our kids.”
The Raiders shot 48-percent from the field overall and connected on 71-percent of their free throws, which proved to be key in the 10-point WaMaC Conference win. |
Christmas comes early in Anamosa
By
Daryl Schepanski - Sports Editor |
ANAMOSA— Through two quarters, the Anamosa girls basketball team appeared well on their way to a huge WaMaC Conference basketball victory over visiting Central DeWitt.
Jackie Engelbart seemed to set the Raiders’ destiny in the contest, drilling a desperation 3-pointer as the the halftime horn sounded, handing her team a 27-19 advantage.
The Engelbart effort turned out to just be a prelude to one of the most dramatic finishes the Anamosa girls basketball team has seen in years, as the Raiders took a wild 42-40 final over the Sabers.
“We got off to a nice start and really seemed to be rolling there in the second quarter,” said Anamosa girls basketball coach Jack Leighty “Our offense was rolling and we were well on our way to having our best game of the year offensively. Then in the second half, every thing completely turned around. After a half of doing just about everything right on the offensive end in the first and second quarters, we immediately went into a stretch where we couldn’t seem to buy a basket in the second half.”
The Sabers out-scored Anamosa (3-5, 2-4) 10-5 in the third quarter to trim the Raider advantage to 32-29 entering the final frame.
“With a young team, it’s important to win close games and this was about as close as you can get,” said Leighty.
“We’ve had so many close games not go our way down the stretch, it was nice to finally have one of these go our way for a change.”
After a Kayla Sanborn field goal with 6:06 to play in the fourth quarter, the Raiders had a 34-29 lead before Central DeWitt made their run.
Lindsay Smith and Jennifer Keitel scored back-to-back field goals to cut the Anamosa lead to a single point at 34-33, before Sanborn scored again for the Raiders with 3:21 to play. |
Turning the page
Anamosa junior Paige Goetz drills a jumper over Central DeWitt’s Jennifer Keitel during the Raiders’ wild 42-40 win Thursday, December 20. (Journal-Eureka photo by Daryl Schepanski)
Under complete control
Anamosa sophomore Kayla Sanborn dribbles through the Central DeWitt defense on her way to the basket during the Raiders’ 42-40 WaMaC triumph Thursday, December 20. (Journal-Eureka photo by Daryl Schepanski) |
Smith drilled a long 3-pointer with 2:50 remaining to tie the score and after each team exchanged baskets, Nicole Green added a field goal giving the Sabers their first lead of the game at 40-38.
The visitors would not score again.
After Lauren Buck hit 1-of-2 free throws with 38 seconds remaining trimming the Central DeWitt lead to one point, Anamosa trapped the Sabers on their ensuing possession and stole the basketball before Paige Goetz was fouled with 29.8 seconds left.
With the game on the line, Goetz calmly stepped to the charity stripe and swished home both offerings handing her team a 41-40 lead.
The Raiders continued to pressure Sabers ball-handlers and forced a jump ball with 21 seconds left. After a missed opportunity at the free throw line, Central DeWitt got the ball back and appeared to have won the game as Michelle Green drilled a jumper from the corner with 1.2 seconds remaining.
But as Saber players, fans and coaches were celebrating their apparent victory, the officials came racing in whistling Keitel for a foul, called before Green released the shot, thus wiping out the basket.
“We’ve had some calls like this go against us already this year so it was nice to have this one go our way,” said Leighty as Christy Coons cemented the Anamosa win hitting 1-of-2 shots from the free throw line giving the hosts the two-point triumph. “
“This game should go a long way to helping us out this year and it sure will let everyone enjoy their Christmas break.”
Sanborn paced the Raiders with 12 points while Goetz added 10 more. Engelbart chipped in with nine points.
The Raider girls traveled to West Delaware Tuesday, December 18, and in another hotly contested game that went down to the wire, ended with Anamosa on the short end of a 56-54 score.
“We struggled defensively, but our offense played well,” said Leighty. “West Delaware had some strong post players we struggled defending.”
The Hawks led 12-10 after one quarter but the Raiders rallied to catch the hosts at the half with a 25-25 score.
Anamosa took a 37-36 lead entering the fourth quarter but watched as the hosts exploded for 20 points over the final eight minutes and squeezed out the two-point triumph.
“We missed some big free throws but what this game came down to was our problems dealing with West Delaware’s size,” said Leighty. “That gave us fits all night long.”
Sanborn led three Raider double-figure scorers with 19 points while Buck added 18 more. Goetz chipped in with 13 points. |
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