The Oskaloosa basketball teams were back at it in Little Hawkeye Conference play with a doubleheader against Grinnell at home. The girls started things off and fell to the #4 Tigers, 94-21, while the boys took care of business with a 76-30 win.
The girls game led off the evening and was never in question from the opening tip. Grinnell is coming off of a state tournament run last year and showed that they will be right back in the mix this year. The Tigers outscored Osky in the first quarter 37-6, but the Indians did show an improved press break and got into the half-court offense several times early. Shots were not falling and the turnovers began to snowball as the game wore on.
By the end of the game, Grinnell had the 94-21 victory. Senior Sienna Durr led the charge with 36 points and six steals. Durr also surpassed the all-time scoring mark for Grinnell Girls Basketball in the contest. Grinnell is now 5-0 on the year.
Oskaloosa was led by Marleigh Denburger, who finished with ten points. Oskaloosa is now 0-5.
In the boys game, Oskaloosa started out fast and furious en route to a 28-8 lead after just one quarter of play. The defensive intensity also was stout for the Indians as they held Grinnell to just three points in the second quarter. Osky led 45-11 at the half. The second half was much of the same, as the Indians would cruise to a 76-30 win to move to 5-0 this year.
Xavier Foster and Cole Henry both had 16 points to lead the way for the Indians. Foster also blocked six shots. Jarad Kruse was also in double figures with 12 points and he added four assists. Spencer Tucker had eight points, five assists, and three steals. The Indians are now 5-0 on the year.
Grinnell was without leading scorer Ethan Mitchell, who sat out with an ankle injury. In his stead, freshman AJ Wilkins led the way for the Tigers with six points and five rebounds. Grinnell is now 0-4 on the year.
The Oskaloosa boys will be back in action next Tuesday at 7:45 PM for a non-conference varsity contest against Washington. We will have a live broadcast on 99.5 FM/740 AM KMZN with a live video stream on radiokmzn.com and MCG Channel 7 in Oskaloosa. The girls will be back in action as a part of a doubleheader next Friday at Dallas Center-Grimes.
