By Sam Parsons
The Oskaloosa Indians girls basketball team made the solo trip to Mount Pleasant yesterday and were dealt their first loss of the season by the Panthers.
In the first half, the Indians were unable to muster much offensively as shots were not able to find the bottom of the bucket. Senior point guard Presley Blommers entered the game with 39 points over the Indians’ first two games, but only managed one point in the first half as the Indians trailed 21-9 at the break.
Things would come alive for Blommers and company in the third quarter. Blommers connected on three shots from 3-point range, with junior Lydia Van Veldhuizen also knocking down a trey as the Indians rallied back to tie the game at 24-24 with less than a minute left in the 3rd. However, the 3rd quarter would end on a sour note when Panther senior Andrea Lopreato drew a foul on a 3-point shot at the buzzer and drilled all 3 of her free throws to make it 27-24 entering the fourth. Lopreato had a monster night for Mount Pleasant, scoring 24 points (8/9 FT) and collecting 17 rebounds (unofficial).
From there, the Panthers were able to stave off the comeback effort from the Indians and re-established control of the game. Blommers connected on another late 3-pointer to give her 14 points in the 2nd half, but the Panthers, led by Lopreato, stayed one or two steps ahead for the entirety of the fourth quarter and left with their first victory of the season, 41-32 over Oskaloosa.
Oskaloosa (2-1) will visit #10 Indianola on Friday in a girls/boys doubleheader. Coverage on KBOE will begin at 6pm.
Oskaloosa Stats
(Rebound totals are unofficial)
Presley Blommers: 15 points, 1 rebound
Dasia Foster: 8 points, 8 rebounds
Lydia Van Veldhuizen: 5 points, 8 rebounds
Hannah Nelson: 4 points, 7 rebounds
Evelyn Adam: 2 rebounds
Loghan Edgar: 1 rebound
Mount Pleasant Stats
Andre Lopreato: 24 points, 17 rebounds
Kate Schimmelpfennig: 11 points, 3 rebounds
Alex Scott: 4 points, 3 rebounds
Andi Scott: 2 points
Hailey Parrott: 2 rebounds
Abby Carthey: 1 rebound
