By Sam Parsons
The Oskaloosa Indians traveled to Norwalk to face the Warriors for their final girls and boys doubleheader of the 2022-23 season on Friday.
For the girls, it was their regular season finale, and once again, the storyline that dominated the game was the absence of senior point guard Presley Blommers, who once again missed the game due to an ankle injury suffered a week prior. The rest of the Osky roster was available, but without their primary ball handler and facilitator, it was tough sledding for the offense to find its groove and advance the ball up the floor. The Warriors forced a slew of turnovers in the game and as a result, they jumped out to an early lead (19-3 after the first quarter) and never looked back. Sophomore Dasia Foster still came away with a double-double, but the Indians weren’t able to compete in what was otherwise a lopsided game. The final score was 61-29 in favor of Norwalk to split the season series after Osky got one over on them in January.
The Indians enter the playoffs with a 9-12 record; they’ll hit the road to face Winterset in their first round matchup on Wednesday.
The boys game, unfortunately, didn’t begin on a high note, either; the Warriors opened the game with a few senior reserve players on the floor for their senior night festivities, but less than halfway through the 1st quarter, brought their typical starting 5 out. When this happened, the Warriors seized control of the game; after Osky freshman Max Roach buried an early 3-pointer, the Indians were held silent offensively for several minutes while the Warriors found their groove. By the end of the first quarter, it was 18-6 in favor of the #7 ranked Warriors.
Norwalk was able to hit cruise control after that. Roach continued to have a nice shooting night for the Indians and finished the game with 15 points, but the Warriors found their offense in the form of senior Braden Carlson, who had a field day in the paint on his way to 20 points. He was one of four Warriors to tally double digit points.
Oskaloosa was able to generate offense in the second half of the game when the Warriors started to let up on defense, but it was too little, too late for Osky to manage an upset bid. It ended a 72-50 game in favor of Norwalk to set the Indians back to 3-18 with their regular season finale happening tonight (2/13) at home against Burlington.
