By Sam Parsons
The Oskaloosa Indians boys basketball team hit the road on Tuesday night following a day in which school was canceled for the Oskaloosa School District, searching for their 5th win of the season against a struggling Mount Pleasant Panthers team that entered Tuesday night at 1-9.
The Indians were dealing with illnesses throughout their roster and were slightly shorthanded for the game. Between that and the school cancelation, the level of focus that the Indians brought to the matchup was going to be key going in; ultimately, there was no sign of lethargy to be found, as they came in ready to play.
Oskaloosa was able to pick up some early steam on offense thanks to some quality ball movement that set up close-range shots for senior forward Xavier Edwards. Edwards scored 8 points in the first quarter to help Osky jump out to a 16-12 lead.
From there, Oskaloosa’s defense stepped up and made life difficult for the Panthers. Edwards was tasked with limiting Mount Pleasant’s 6’7″ post player Noah Lange, and he consistently denied entry passes to Lange to prevent easy, efficient buckets for the Panthers. Players like Ethan Stek, Landon Romas, and Heavon Knox were poking balls free from Panther players’ handles all night long and jumping passing lanes to create turnovers. The Panthers weren’t able to get many shots up against the Indians because the Indians never gave them the real estate to find open looks; on top of the turnovers forced on-ball, the Indians forced multiple shot clock violations in the first half to frustrate Mount Pleasant.
“Compared to our last games, I think that our defense has been a lot better,” said Xavier Edwards post-game. “Especially coming off of that Norwalk loss…we definitely took some time to focus on getting back on defense, working on our talking and communication.”
The Indians defense limited the Panther offense to 28 points in quarters 2-4. Their offense maintained their pace to keep the Panthers from ever re-entering the game after the score was 27-20 Oskaloosa at halftime. The Indians hardly needed to feel any stress in the second half as they cruised to a 56-40 victory.
Tommy North led Oskaloosa with 16 points on the night. Xavier Edwards added 14, while Ethan Stek and Landon Romas each chipped in 7.
“We did enough to get it done,” said coach Erik McGee after the game. “There were some times where it wasn’t pretty, but when it came time, we were able to stretch that lead from 7 to 11…and we were able to put the game away late.”
Oskaloosa (5-7) will travel to Pella Christian on Friday night to take on the Eagles in a Little Hawkeye Conference girls and boys doubleheader. Coverage can be heard starting at 5:45pm on KBOE 104.9 FM and kboeradio.com.
