By Sam Parsons
The Oskaloosa Indians hit the hardwood on Monday night for another girls and boys basketball doubleheader. It was their third home doubleheader in the past week, this time hosting the Grinnell Tigers.
Girls Game
The Osky girls entered Monday night’s contest searching for their third consecutive 3-0 start in the last three years. They were taking on a 1-2 Grinnell team that came into the season off the heels of their first losing campaign in over 10 years.
The girls game began as a somewhat sloppy affair for both sides. Both the Indians and the Tigers struggled with turning the ball over in the first half, which, combined with a good start from the Tigers in the rebound battle, allowed Grinnell to hang with Osky in an evenly played first half. The Indians held a 2 point lead after the first quarter and a 6 point lead at halftime.
“We came out flat early and let Grinnell gain confidence, and they played right along with us,” said Osky coach TC Cunningham after the game. “They’re a scrappy young group.”
The second half, however, proved to be a different story in more ways than one. The Indians began to dominate the rebound battle, which started with the efforts of senior center Dasia Foster, who finished the night with 18 (unofficial) rebounds. Foster gave the Indians plenty of second-chance points and denied the Tigers the same after Grinnell had benefitted from several second-chance opportunities in the first half.
Things improved for the Indians defensively in the second half, too.
“We weren’t putting much pressure on them in the first half,” said Cunningham. “In the second half, we made some adjustments, I kind of challenged them to play some defense, and they stepped up and did that.”
Another positive development for the Indians was their outside shooting: after their success from long range had been limited in the first two games of the season, Osky connected on 5 three-point shot attempts, including 2 from senior Gracie DeRonde, 2 from sophomore Haylee Parker, and 1 from junior Leah Cohrt. The Indians’ success in shooting the basketball played a pivotal role in their offense piling on 32 points in the second half.
The improvement on both ends of the floor led to a strong Indians finish as they pulled away from Grinnell. The final score was 54-34, giving the Indians yet another 3-0 start.
Boys Game
Oskaloosa’s boys were looking for a bounce-back effort on Monday night after falling in their conference opener to Pella Christian on Friday night.
The Grinnell Tigers seemed to have other ideas early on. Osky’s offense was slow coming out of the gate while the Tigers were able to attack the basket successfully on a few different occasions. The end of the first quarter arrived quickly with the Tigers holding a 14-7 lead, which didn’t budge significantly in the second quarter; the halftime score was 23-18 in favor of Grinnell.
But similar to the girls game, the second half of the boys game played out in an entirely different way. While Osky played solid defense on Grinnell all night long, their offense came together in the 3rd and 4th quarter in ways it hadn’t for extended periods in Osky’s first two games.
The key changes for Osky’s offense manifested themselves in the form of ball movement and outside shooting. Guards Tommy North and Heavon Knox were able to set up forwards Xavier Edwards and Grady Kool with quality looks in the post; Edwards finished the night with 12 points on efficient shooting, while Kool tallied 8 points of his own, hitting on a couple of midrange jumpers along the way. And North put together his most productive night of the young season shooting the basketball, as he drained 4 triples on his way to a season-high 17 points, 16 of which were scored in the second half.
“In the second half, our energy picked up, and that’s kind of what led us [back into the game],” said North in a postgame interview.
Heavon Knox also buried a pair of long range jumpers on his way to 10 points on the night. Osky’s 39 points in the second half were the most they have scored in any half up to this point in the season, and their defense continued to put in work the whole way through. Ultimately, the Indians came away with a 57-42 victory, improving their record to 2-1 through 3 games, and solidifying the idea that there is a different vibe about this year’s Osky team.
“Last year our chemistry was really good, we just didn’t show it,” said junior forward Ethan Stek afterwards. “This year, it’s just different. I feel like we’ve got a different edge on us right now.”
Oskaloosa’s girls are at Mount Pleasant tonight, and then both the boys and the girls will be making the trip to Indianola on Friday for their next conference matchups. Coverage of the Indianola doubleheader will begin around 5:45pm on Friday evening on KBOE 104.9 FM and kboeradio.com.
