The Oskaloosa Indians were in action last night in conference play against Dallas Center-Grimes, and it didn’t end well after a couple of very different games.

The girls’ game got the action started, and Oskaloosa was already shorthanded with multiple players out who are normal parts of the rotation.

Osky would commit 15 first quarter turnovers as DCG dominated play en route to a quick 26-4 lead. It was smooth sailing for the Fillies from there, as they would coast to a 67-23 lead. DCG is now 8-2 on the year and in the mix to win the Little Hawkeye Conference, and Oskaloosa is now 0-6.

There were still a couple of very intriguing storylines for Osky, as Alexis Westercamp led all players in the game with 18 points and 7 rebounds. Maybe the most interesting storyline moving forward involves two new call-ups to the varsity roster.

Lindsey Holmberg and Marleigh DenBerger made their varsity debuts last night and immediately contributed good minutes. Both are looking to continue their growth at the JV level this season, but Head Coach Steve Kaisand thinks both can grow and be good contributors for the Indians this year.

The boys’ game was next, and it was a defensive struggle between two teams who had very different makeups despite very similar statistics.

Both teams had a hard time getting anything going offensively in the first half, as turnovers plagued both teams due to very aggressive defense. The halftime score was 21-18 in favor of the Mustangs.

The two teams battled neck and neck in the third quarter, and started the fourth with the same three point margin, as DCG led 33-30.

Early in the 4^th quarter, however, Oskaloosa had its first real lapse of the game, and over a two minute span, DCG increased their lead to a game-high ten points with just over five minutes remaining, and Oskaloosa wouldn’t be able to trim the deficit inside of three possessions. Following several free throws down the stretch DCG got the win, 51-38. Osky is now 3-4, and DCG is 6-3.

Jack Moore and Spencer Tucker paced Oskaloosa with 9 points each, while Wade Votroubek had his best game in a few weeks with an 8 point, 10 rebound showing.

Oskaloosa will be back in action on the hardwood this Friday night on the road for another Little Hawkeye Conference doubleheader. They will face a couple of improved Newton teams on the road. You can hear the action starting on 99.5 FM and AM 740 KMZN, the KMZN mobile app, and radiokmzn.com. It all begins with the Brown’s Shoe Fit Basketball Countdown, starting at 5:30 PM.

Oskaloosa–The William Penn men’s basketball team will begin the second half of its campaign in the top five nationally as the NAIA released its second Division I rating Tuesday.

The Statesmen (12-1, 5-0 Heart), winners of 12 straight, move up one position since last month and have 219 total points. The ranking is the highest for William Penn since finishing the 2012-2013 campaign at #2.

New #1 Georgetown (Ky.) has 250 points and all 10 first-place votes. Pikeville (Ky.), Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.), and Columbia (Mo.) finish off the rest of the top five. #19 MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) and #22 Central Methodist (Mo.) also represent the Heart of America Athletic Conference in the top 25; Benedictine (Kan.) is unofficially 29th and Avila (Mo.) is 36th.

William Penn returns to action Wednesday, traveling to Canton, Mo. to face Culver-Stockton at 7:30 p.m.

NAIA Men’s Basketball Rating #2 – January 5, 2016
(Number in parentheses is first-place votes)
1. Georgetown (Ky.) (10)
2. Pikeville (Ky.)
3. Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.)
4. Columbia (Mo.)
5. William Penn
6. LSU-Alexandria
7. Lewis-Clarke State (Idaho)
8. Dalton State (Ga.)
9. Arizona Christian
10. Talladega (Ala.)
11. Hope International (Calif.)
12. Westmont (Calif.)
13. Texas Wesleyan
14. Xavier (La.)
15. Lindsey Wilson (Ky.)
16. Carroll (Mont.)
17. Wayland Baptist (Texas)
18. SAGU (Texas)
19. MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.)
20. Biola (Calif.)
21. Langston (Okla.)
22. Central Methodist (Mo.)
23. Montana State-Northern
24. Vanguard (Calif.)
25. Tougaloo (Miss.)

Others receiving votes: : Our Lady of the Lake (Texas) 42; Campbellsville (Ky.) 42; Martin Methodist (Tenn.) 31; Benedictine (Kan.) 27; Park (Mo.) 12; Wiley (Texas) 9; Mid-America Christian (Okla.) 6; Mobile (Ala.) 5; Oklahoma City 4; Montana Western 4; Avila (Mo.) 3.
Story provided by Wade Steinlage

The William Penn softball program will be hosting a pitching clinic on Saturday, January 16 (1-3 p.m.) and a hitting clinic on Saturday, January 23 (1-3 p.m.).  The clinics will be held on campus in the Penn Activity Center with each clinic costing $40 ($70 for both).  The clinics are for girls in grades 1-12.  For more information or to register, please contact Head Coach Mike Christner at 641-673-1707 or Assistant Coach Steph Christner at 641-673-1705.

The annual Oskaloosa baseball Pitching Clinic will start January 16, 2016 in the upper gym at William Penn University.  You may contact Emory Stewart at his home phone 641-673-7031 or on his cell 515-418-2498 to preregister or go to the Oskaloosa Herald Office by Walmart in Oskaloosa to pick up a registration form.  Don’t delay as the sessions are already filling up.  There is only one slot remaining for the 2:00 session.

Pitching fundamentals are taught ranging from how to warmup, drills, grips, pitching mechanics and pitcher mindset.

Veteran pitching coaches assisting in this clinic are Bill Almond, assistant coach at Oskaloosa High School, Mark McCulley, assistant baseball coach at North Mahaska High School and Matt Miller, former head baseball coach at Twin Cedars High School.  These men have been working this clinic for years and work hard to teach each attendee the proper fundamentals of pitching.

The cost of the clinic is $195.00 per person and runs for 8 weeks.  4th and 5th graders start at 1:00 and runs until 2:00.  6th and 7th graders start at 2:00 and runs until 3:00, 7th and 8th graders start at 3:00 and runs until 4:00, and finally 9th-12th graders start at 4:00 and runs until 5:00.

Each pitcher must provide their own catcher.

In boys’ basketball scores from yesterday:

Albia 75, North Mahaska 42

Moravia 48, English Valleys 34

West Des Moines Valley 68, Pella 57

In girls’ basketball scores from yesterday:

Grinnell 79, East Marshall 25

Moravia 78, English Valleys 28

Tonight on the Mahaska Zone Network, you will hear the beginning of the post-holiday slate of our winter sports schedule, as Oskaloosa’s basketball teams will be on the road to face Dallas Center-Grimes. You can hear the pregame live on 99.5 FM and AM 740 KMZN, as well as on the KMZN mobile app and radiokmzn.com. Broadcast starts at 6 PM for the 6:15 tip-off of the girls’ game, with the boys’ game to follow.

WPU Battles in Las Vegas Tourneys

Las Vegas, Nev.–The Statesmen men’s bowling team spent part of its holiday break in Sin City competing at two prestigious tournaments last week.

At the Glenn Carlson Las Vegas Invitational, William Penn was 11th out of 37 teams with 8,930 pins in nine games; Urbana (Ohio) led qualifying with 9,445 pins.  The navy and defeated #6 San Jose State (Calif.) 3-2 in the first round, but bowed out with a 3-0 quarterfinal loss to eventual champion Calumet-St. Joseph (Ind.).

Tyler Woods of Kansas was first with a 230.3 average, while Stian Hoff (Jr., Orkanger, Norway, General Accounting) was 12th in the 246-person field with a 210.1 average.

Nick Walker (Fr., Zeeland, Mich., Business Management), at 201.2, Michael Applegate (Sr., Council Bluffs, Iowa, Secondary Education), at 198.8, and Jacques Kaune (Sr., Anchorage, Alaska, Business Management), at 197.4, also started all nine games.

Travis Scott (Sr., West Saint Paul, Minn., Physical Education) posted a 189.5 clip in six games and Ryan Howard (Jr., King, N.C., Information Technology) tallied a 175.0 mark in three games.

The Statesmen’s second crew was first out of four JV teams with 8,425 pins; WPU lost to Pikeville (Ky.) in the finals.

Curtis Majka (So., Elgin, Ill., Mechanical Engineering) was the best JV roller with a 202.6 clip.  Cory Rissman (Sr., Yorkville, Ill., Industrial Technology) started all nine games as well with a 196.2 mark.

Connor Frederick (Sr., Ottumwa, Iowa, History/Government) was next at 179.9 in eight games, while Kevin Wesely (Sr., Mount Pleasant, Iowa, Industrial Technology) recorded a 193.4 average in seven starts.  Jason Forsyth (Fr., Weatherford, Texas, Business Management) and Cody Adair (Jr., Kearns, Utah, Industrial Technology) both started four games with identical 166.3 averages.  Ryan Racimo (Jr. Olympia, Wash., Exercise Science), with an average of 203.0, and Rylie Reidel (So., Knoxville, Iowa, Business Management), with an average of 153.5, both started two games.

At the Las Vegas Collegiate Shootout, WPU placed 13th out of 38 squads with 10,957 pins in six games and four rounds of Bakers.  Calumet-St. Joseph collected the team title with 12,443 pins, while Ramon Hilferink of Webber International (Fla.) led qualifying with a 252.7 average.

Kaune was WPU’s top varsity competitor, placing 25th at 214.7.  He was joined by four other teammates who also averaged over 200, including Quincy Bruce (So., Cedar Rapids, Iowa, General Accounting) at 203.2.  Applegate was next at 201.8, while Walker and Hoff wrapped it up at 200.7 and 200.3, respectively.

William Penn’s JV was again first out of four JV teams with 9,635 pins.  Frederick (215.8) and Majka (208.7) both started six games, while Adair (200.0, five games) was also over 200.  Forsyth averaged 191.0 in four games, while the trio of Rissman (190.0), Racimo (185.3), and Reidel (160.7) each started three rounds.

Next Up: William Penn travels to Addison, Ill. on January 9-10 to compete at the Roto Grip Eagles Baker Challenge.

William Penn Women Place 12th Twice in Nevada

Las Vegas, Nev.–The Statesmen women’s bowling team ended its pre-holiday slate with two tournaments in Nevada last week.

At the Glenn Carlson Las Vegas Invitational, William Penn was 12th out of 18 teams with 8,043 pins in nine games; Wichita State (Kan.) led qualifying with 8,961 pins.  #3 seed Pikeville (Ky.) eventually won the bracket crown.

Katelyn Hull of Urbana (Ohio) was first with a 209.1 average, while Stephanie Adams (Jr., Souris, Manitoba, Business Management) guided the Statesmen in eighth at 201.7. Montana Pence (Sr., Stronghurst, Ill., Elementary Education) also rolled all nine games with a 187.4 average.

Amber Ovel (Fr., Waterloo, Iowa, Business Management) averaged 168.0 pins in eight games and Briell Newberry (So., Holland, Mich., Secondary Education) had a 164.9 clip in seven games.  MacKenzie Boyd (Jr., Knoxville, Iowa, Human Services/Sociology) (186.2, six games), Audra Farley (So., Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Education) (161.4, five games), and Emily Braga (Sr., Newton, Iowa, Communications) (119, one game) finished the varsity’s efforts.

At the Las Vegas Collegiate Shootout, WPU placed 12th out of 19 squads with 9,739 pins in six games and four rounds of Bakers.  Wichita State took the team title with 12,616 pins, while WSU’s Dasha Kovalova led qualifying with a 233.7 average.

Adams again paced WPU in 17th place at 206.5, while Boyd (188.0), Pence (185.5), and Newberry (181.7) also started all six games.

Farley averaged 184.8 pins in four games and Ovel averaged 163.0 in two starts.

Next Up: William Penn travels to Addison, Ill. on January 9-10 to compete at the Roto Grip Eagles Baker Challenge.
Story provided by Wade Steinlage

CEDAR RAPIDS (AP) — Authorities are warning Iowans to beware of Rose Bowl ticket scams.

Police in Cedar Rapids say people have reported buying tickets through Craigslist and then meeting the seller at a Cedar Rapids movie theater. The tickets proved to be fakes.

The Marion Police Department says officers are investigating a report of someone driving a car with Washington license plates selling counterfeit tickets.

Iowa plays Stanford on New Year’s Day at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California.

The William Penn cheer squad will be hosting a kids clinic on Friday, January 8 (5:30-7:30 PM) & Saturday, January 9 (12:30-2 PM) with a performance at the basketball game that day.  The clinics will be held on campus in the Musco Technology Center costing $25.00 (which includes a t-shirt).  The clinics are for children Kindergarten – 8th Grade.  For more information or to register, please contact Lisa Conner at 641-990-0066 or Treana Drost at 641-777-4681.

Story provided by Wade Steinlage

Next week it will be a dry time for high school sports, as everyone is on their holiday break. But fear not, as George Henry will be joining me to break down the first month of the winter sports season and review all the happenings in winter sports next week to catch you up on the action before we kick the season into overdrive after the first of the year.

Next Monday, we’ll be breaking down wrestling in the area. Tuesday, we’ll take a look at boys’ and girls’ bowling. Wednesday will be the day we look at boys’ swimming. And finally, we’ll review basketball from around the area on Thursday.

You can hear even more discussion about wrestling and bowling this Saturday on the Fifth Quarter Show, which you can hear at 8:30 AM on 104.9 FM KBOE, 99.5 FM and AM 740 KMZN, the KBOE and KMZN mobile apps, radiokmzn.com and kboeradio.com. There will be more discussion on boys’ swimming and boys’ and girls’ basketball on the January 2^nd edition of the Fifth Quarter Show.

Our first live broadcast of 2016 will be on January 5^th as Oskaloosa Basketball travels to face Dallas Center-Grimes in Little Hawkeye Conference action. Winter Sports Weekly will start back up on January 6^th.

In boys’ basketball Tuesday night:

Colfax-Mingo 75, Tri-County 50

Keota 63, BGM 58

Lynnville-Sully 68, Belle Plaine 56

Marion 61, Washington 39

Montezuma 73, Iowa Valley 20

North Mahaska 64, English Valleys 49

Pekin 61, WACO 27

Sigourney 67, HLV 33

West Branch 73, Mid-Prairie 44

In girls’ basketball Tuesday night:

Ballard 57, Newton 48

Burlington Notre Dame 78, Cardinal 32

Center Point-Urbana 83, Grinnell 79

Colfax-Mingo 48, Tri-County 37

Lynnville-Sully 47, Belle Plaine 32

Montezuma 35, Iowa Valley 32

North Mahaska 32, English Valleys 23

Pella Christian 56, Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont 44

Sigourney 48, HLV 40