Girls Game
NEW SHARON – North Mahaska’s Class 2A ranking and an undefeated South Iowa Cedar League season was challenged by a pesky Sigourney squad Tuesday. North Mahaska was coming off a nine-point loss to top-ranked Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont on Monday but was able to use a strong fourth quarter to post a 59-44 victory.
The game was much closer than the 15-point final shows. Sigourney led 16-14 after the first period but NM had pulled ahead 25-22 on an 11-4 run. Sigourney and the host Warhawks battled through two ties and eight lead changes. Brynn Clarahan’s basket at the 3 minutes 42 second mark of the third quarter gave the Lady Savages a 30-29 lead. A minute later Sydney Andersen’s inside jumper put North Mahaska in front to stay.
North Mahaska had four players in doble figures to outgun Sigourney’s Clarahan and Josephine Moore. The Warhawks were also helped by double-doubles by Andersen and Breckyn Schilling. Andersen finished with night with 12 points and 11 rebounds while Schilling had six points and 10 boards. Nataliya Linder poured in 14 points with seven boards, three assists and a block.
North Mahaska coach L.E. Moore was not taking Sigourney lightly.
“I knew it would be a battle coming off the game with Eddyville last night,” said Moore. “They are a good team. We needed that big fourth quarter.”
North Mahaska’s defense limited Sigourney to baskets by Moore and one by Clarahan in the final period. NM outscored the Lady Savages 19-7 in the final frame.
“We needed to do that,” said Moore. “Our defense was tired after last night, but they stayed with it.”
Junior Aly Steil hit a pair of 3-pointers and Schilling added free throws to secure the win. Moore said Linder coming off the bench helped with the rebounding and giving the Warhawks second chance opportunities.
In addition to her points, Steil doled out five assists and collected two steals. Senior Kayla Readshaw added five points, six steals and three assists
Clarahan, a freshman, led all scorers with 21 points. Moore finished with 14 and grabbed nine rebounds.
Sigourney has had a tough stretch playing the three league leaders in the last three games.
“They (NM) are a really good team,” said Sigourney coach Kaylee Weber. “I thought we had scouted them well and knew what they were going to do. We play well for three and a half quarters but with my six to seven person rotation we get a bit tired.”
Weber said her team needs to get stronger rebounding.
“I would like to see us block out better,” said Weber. “I’m going to look at the box score and see how we actually did. It seemed they got a lot of offensive rebounds.”
North Mahaska improves to 9-1 on the season and 7-0 in league play. They travel to Iowa Valley Friday for another SICL tilt.
Boys Game
Fast starts are to North Mahaska coach Kevin Kelderman’s liking. It was needed Tuesday to hold off the Sigourney Savages to keep their South Iowa Cedar League record perfect. The Warhawks jumped out to a 20-7 lead then saw Sigourney outscore them 53-47 over the next three periods but NM hung on for a 67-60 victory.
“That big start was key,” said Kelderman. “Give them credit they stayed on us after that first quarter. We have better nights when we get out to a fast start.”
The Warhawks used a barrage of 3-pointers in the game hitting 12, three of them in the first three minutes. Another seven points came inside the paint by Adrian Smith and Trenton DeBruin. Sigourney hit two field goals and four free throws in the opening period. The Savages outscored NM in the second period 23-18 to close the gap to eight points by halftime 38-30.
The second half challenge for Sigourney was who to guard. All five Warhawk starters hit treys. Three Warhawks finished in double figures, but it was a challenge for North Mahaska to control the Savage’s Isaac Bruns, who scored 24. Teammate Solon Yates added 15 and grabbed a game-high seven rebounds.
“We play well when we share the ball,” said Kelderman. “It’s the little things, going after a rebound or loose ball, blocking out or just touching a ball, that matters. At the end Jack (Kelderman) got the ball and instead of putting up a shot pulled it back out. That is court smarts.”
Gabe Hora led North Mahaska with 19 points, 12 coming off 3-pointers. He also led the NM rebounding with six. Asher DeBoef and Adrian Smith each scored 16 points with five rebounds.
North Mahaska (9-1, 7-0) will head to Iowa Valley Friday for another SICL contest.
