Last night, you heard high school basketball on KMZN with the Oskaloosa Indians hosting Knoxville. Both games were very competitive, and wound up with the teams earning a split.

In the girls’ game, Oskaloosa got out to a fast start, leading by as many as 7 in the first quarter. But in the second quarter, foul trouble forced Osky to bench Alexis Westercamp for a large portion of time, and Knoxville outscored the Indians 11-4 in the second to take an 18-16 lead at halftime.

In the second half, the teams would both be on fire, but it was the fourth quarter, which again saw plenty of bench time for Westercamp, and Osky couldn’t find a way to score enough to make up the deficit. The Panthers got the win, 47-38.

Oskaloosa was still led in scoring by Westercamp, who had 14 points to go along with 5 rebounds and 3 steals. Leah VanMaanen had a very nice game in the backcourt, dropping in 11 points to go along with 3 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 steals. Shalandra Shilling had one of her best outings of her varsity career as well, scoring 6 points to go along with 8 rebounds and two steals.

Knoxville was led by Ricki Hall, who dominated the interior with Westercamp either out of the game, or nursing foul trouble, and finished with 19 points, 15 coming in the second half. She also grabbed 7 rebounds. Carrie Chambers had 15 points and 8 boards for the Panthers.

Oskaloosa’s girls are now 1-11. Knoxville is 9-4.

In the boys’ game, the Indians came out sluggish, but their defense was able to keep Knoxville from opening up a lead bigger than 8. When Jarad Kruse started heating up, he led the Indians on a big second quarter run, and Osky held a lead as big as 8 as well, before going into halftime up by five.

In the second half, the teams went back and forth, but Knoxville was a little warmer, taking a five point lead they would hold for a majority of the second half. But Oskaloosa would not go away. Spencer Tucker nailed a 28-foot three pointer to tie the game at 48, and then Jack Moore would score four straight to give Osky some breathing room. Rian Yates added a breakaway layup on a press break to seal Oskaloosa’s 54-50 victory, snapping a five-game losing streak.

Kruse was the major story for the Indians, hitting two huge threes, and setting up the offense from his forward position. He scored a game high 16 points, and had 4 rebounds. Austin Scholes had a big night as well for Osky with 10 points and 9 rebounds. Tucker finished with 9 points, Moore finished with 8, and Rian Yates had 7 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, and 4 steals off the bench.

Oskaloosa now moves to 4-7, and Knoxville is 7-4.

Oskaloosa is back in action on Friday night, as they host Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont in non-conference play. You can catch the action on 99.5 FM and AM 740 KMZN as well as radiokmzn.com and the KMZN mobile app. Jamie Brockman will have the call.