By Sam Parsons
The Oskaloosa Indians hosted the Ottumwa Bulldogs on Tuesday night for a non-conference doubleheader. Oskaloosa’s girls were coming in with a 4-game losing streak and a 5-5 record, while Ottumwa’s girls were 6-5; meanwhile, Osky’s boys were coming off their first conference win of the season, and Ottumwa’s boys were less than 24 hours removed from a win over Burlington.
Girls Game
Coming off their worst offensive showing of the season at Newton last Friday, and carrying a 4-game losing streak into Tuesday night’s game, Oskaloosa’s girls were looking for a spark to get their season back on track against Ottumwa.
They were able to find that spark early in the game. After a 4/26 night of shooting from 3-point range against the Cardinal defense, which had been allowing abundant space on the outside in exchange for constantly double-teaming center Dasia Foster on- and off-ball, the Ottumwa Bulldogs employed a similar defensive strategy; this time, however, Osky’s shooters were able to find their groove, and they punished Ottumwa for giving up so much space on the perimeter.
Osky’s guards drained 5 3-pointers in the first half against the Bulldogs: sophomore Haylee Parker knocked down a pair, while all three Cole sisters (Naomi, Dassah, and Porah) made one apiece. That early success from downtown freed up Foster to do what she does in the paint. Osky scored 15 points in the first quarter and 13 more in the second, a dramatic increase in offensive output after scoring just 29 points at Newton on Friday night.
Sophomore Naomi Cole said it was simply a matter of the team getting dialed in.
“We knew we were way better than how we played at Newton, and we knew we had to lock in and just be the team we know we are…our [shooting] percentage on Friday was not that good; this game, it was way better.”
Coach TC Cunningham echoed those sentiments.
“I think we came out focused, with a lot of energy. We were looking to bounce back from that loss on Friday night…[we were] shooting with confidence. And it helps shooting in your own gym, too.”
Defensively, the Indians were able to limit the Bulldogs throughout the night. Ottumwa wasn’t able to score double digit points in any quarter: Dasia Foster and Hannah Nelson were neutralizing forces in the interior, so the Bulldogs routinely had to settle for outside shots. They were only able to make 4 3-pointers on the night, with 3 of them coming from senior guard Camdyn Crouse. That lack of success was not nearly enough to keep pace with Oskaloosa, and the Indians were able to coast to the finish line for a 43-34 win to end their skid.
The win brings Oskaloosa’s record to 6-5 on the season.
Boys Game
In contrast to the girls team, Oskaloosa’s boys came into Tuesday night’s bout with Ottumwa off the heels of perhaps their best all-around performance of the season at Newton. Early on against Ottumwa, it seemed as though the Indians were riding the wave with success on both ends of the floor.
Junior Landon Romas was flying all over the court in the first half, chasing down rebounds, drawing fouls, and finishing well at the basket on his way to 10 first-half points and (unofficially) 8 first-half rebounds (5 of which were offensive boards). Romas spearheaded an Indians effort that saw them convincingly out-rebound the Bulldogs in the first half, and that success in the rebound battle allowed the Indians to jump out to a 31-21 lead at halftime. Romas, along with junior Heavon Knox, senior Xavier Edwards, and sophomore Tommy North, had the Indians offense working, while the whole team was moving well on the defensive end and preventing Ottumwa from settling in to their offense.
The second half, however, saw the Bulldogs bounce back. The Bulldogs leaned heavily on their star senior forward Trae Brown, who was consistently able to work his way to the hole, whether through strength or finesse, which in turn set up his own outside shot. Brown had scored 7 points for Ottumwa in the first half, but in the second half, he took over to the tune of 22 more points. Meanwhile, the Bulldogs were even in the rebound battle with the Indians in the second half. Those two factors combined to allow Ottumwa to draw within one point of Oskaloosa by the end of the third quarter. Oskaloosa led 42-41, setting the stage for an exciting fourth.
From there, the Indians and the Bulldogs battled back and forth. In addition to what they were getting from Brown, the Bulldogs got timely buckets from senior Chase Thompson and junior Nehemiah Wolfing. The Indians started taking more outside shots, but they were converting quite a few of them: Tommy North finished the night with 4 successful triples, while Heavon Knox made 3 and Carter Shinn chipped in with 1.
However, the one area where Ottumwa had a clear advantage over Oskaloosa was free throws. Each team attempted 13 free throws on the night: Ottumwa made 9 of them, but Oskaloosa only made 5.
The disparity in free throw success played a role in Ottumwa having the lead in the final minute. The score was 56-55 Ottumwa when, with roughly 20 seconds left, Nehemiah Wolfing buried a clutch three-pointer to give Ottumwa a 4-point advantage. The Indians weren’t able to make up that much ground in the remaining time, so even with a buzzer-beating three from Tommy North, they were still one point short, and with a couple of free throws mixed in for both teams, the final score was 60-59 in favor of Ottumwa.
Oskaloosa will host Norwalk on Friday night for their next doubleheader. Coverage can be heard on KBOE 104.9 FM and kboeradio.com.
All Oskaloosa sports broadcasts can be listened to on-demand here.