GIRLS
NEW SHARON – North Mahaska’s defense forced seven first quarter turnovers and did not allow a score through the first five and a half minutes of the game to score a 62-18 South Iowa Cedar League win over HLV Tuesday.
No. 3 NM led 16-0 when Ayla Hall stole a ball and raced to the basket. Emery Hall would add a 3-pointer, but the Warhawks were off and running. North Mahaska led 21-5 after one period and jumped up 48-9 by intermission.
“Our defensive intensity was pretty good tonight,” said NM coach L.E. Moore. “There are things we need to work on. You can always get better. Our half-court defense needs to get better.”
Four senior Warhawks scored in double figures. Regan Grewe had 13, Breckyn Schilling finished with 12, Sydney Andersen had 10 as did reserve Peyton Sanders. Grewe added six rebounds and four steals to her total while Andersen grabbed eight boards. Senior Kayla Readshaw doled out five assists and another senior, Aly Steil had four.
North Mahaska was able to play the entire bench for significant minutes even with a running clock.
“We got everyone into the game and that will help us down the road,” said Moore.
North Mahaska (3-0) outrebounded HLV 32-18 and forced 16 turnovers to six for the Warhawks.
Emery Hall paced HLV with five points.
North Mahaska plays Friday at SICL rival Lynnville-Sully then goes to No. 9 in Class 3A to play PCM. They will host Colfax-Mingo next Tuesday before closing out the pre-holiday season with a game at Moravia on Dec. 20.
BOYS
North Mahaska boys basketball coach Kevin Kelderman will be searching for some answers as to how HLV was able to penetrate for a number of easy baskets while his team missed several points in the paint. Despite those questions the Warhawks were able to hit shots when they needed to score a 60-48 win over the HLV Warriors.
In the beginning it looked like North Mahaska was going to run away with the game as they built a 17-5 lead after one period. NM senior Asher DeBoef, who finished with a game-high 28 points, hit a 3-pointer a minute into the second half but the Warhawks would not score for nearly four minutes. Meanwhile HLV attacked the basket and closed the game to 20-19 when DeBoef hit another long ball. NM then scored seven points and held the Warriors scoreless for a 30-19 lead at half.
HLV would cut into the North Mahaska lead to four to five points but could get no further. Free throws by NM were able to seal the victory.
“They played well,” said NM coach Kevin Kelderman. “They were hitting those penetrating drives, and we missed a lot of bunnies.”
DeBoef led the way with his points, 10 rebounds and five steals. Gabe Hora added 12 points and Lucas Nunnikhoven chipped in 10. Jack Kelderman and Aidan Smith each recorded six rebounds. North Mahaska turned the ball over 16 times to 14 for HLV but hit 10-for-17 at the free throw line while HLV was 6-of-13.
HLV had three players in double figures. Peyton Roth led with 14, Levi Molyneux added 12 and Sean McCulloch had 11. Devon Weisskopf added eight with seven rebounds.
North Mahaska will travel to Lynnville-Sully Friday, PCM Tuesday and close out the pre-holiday season at Moravia Friday.
