The Oskaloosa Indians faced off against Norwalk in a Little Hawkeye Conference doubleheader, and a couple of classic games were the result.
In a big surprise, the Oskaloosa girls battled through foul trouble and a slow second half to get their first conference win of the season, 53-51 over Norwalk. Oskaloosa had their best half of the season in the first half, outscoring the Warriors 31-19. Norwalk really amped up the full court pressure in the second half and forced Oskaloosa into several mistakes, but could never take the lead despite tying the game on a couple of occasions in the fourth quarter.
Alexis Westercamp led the Indians with 21 points and 7 rebounds. Freshman Lindsey Holmberg got her first varsity start in place of Paige Howard, who was battling an illness. Holmberg did not disappoint, scoring 8 points, with 3 rebounds, 2 assists, and a game-high four steals. Fellow freshman Marleigh DenBerger had a big game off the bench for Osky, scoring 9 points and grabbing a game-high 8 rebounds.
Norwalk was without leading scorer Tori VanVelzen, who was out with a leg injury. Oskaloosa held second-leading scorer Miranda Hughes to just 11 points and 6 rebounds. Osky’s girls are now 3-17. Norwalk is 8-10.
In the boys’ game, Oskaloosa didn’t get the offense clicking until they were down by 21 points in the third quarter as Norwalk looked like a well-oiled machine in a 66-58 victory over the Indians.
Osky did a great job taking care of the ball, committing only 8 turnovers, but could not get into an offensive rhythm shooting the ball. Jarad Kruse led the Indians with 14 points and 5 rebounds. Jack Moore added 12.
Norwalk had 21 points in the first six minutes of the second half and rode that big run to the finish line as Osky battled back with a 22 point fourth quarter. The Warriors were led by sophomore stud Luke Vaske, who had 15 points and 6 assists. Michael Geistler had 16 points to lead the scoring attack for Norwalk. Cade Moritz and Matt Guessford each had 10.
Oskaloosa falls to 6-13 on the season, while Norwalk is now 13-5.
Oskaloosa is next in action on Friday night at home against archrival Pella. The coverage begins with the Brown’s Shoe Fit Basketball Countdown on 99.5 FM and AM 740 KMZN, as well as radiokmzn.com at 5:30 PM. The girls’ game kicks off the doubleheader around 6:15.
