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Central boys win one game, then suffer two competitive losses

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Hazen Loan protects down low on defense against Turkey Valley. He finished the game with two steals. (Photos by Bev Hamann)

New addition Abenet Lammers goes for the layup in the loss against South Winneshiek. Lammers came off the bench for a season-high nine points.

By Willis Patenaude, Times-Register

The Central boys basketball team started last week with an impressive hard-fought win against Central City, 48-45, but unfortunately dropped the next two contests: a close loss against Turkey Valley, 57-47, followed by a lopsided one against South Winneshiek, 77-44. 

Coming off a week where the undersized team practiced rebounding and communication and minimizing turnovers, the Warriors made it all work against Central City. While the team came out a little flat, in the words of Coach Brady Stramer, they turned it on in the second quarter, taking a one-point lead into halftime. 

The Warriors were later down with under a minute to go in the game, when Stramer called a time-out. 

“I talked about how we needed to make sure that we took the last shot of the game so that, if we did miss, we would go to overtime without giving them a chance to win the game in regulation,” he said. 

In a Hollywood moment, the team executed the play as called and hit the game-winning three as time expired. 

“I was really proud of our guys’ ability to take care of the basketball in the end of a close game when the pressure increased. This was an area that we struggled with in a game earlier in the season, so seeing us improve our end of game execution was a big positive for us,” Stramer said. 

Hazen Loan had 11 points, eight rebounds, three assists and one block for the Warriors. Teammate Evan Pensel had 10 points to go with three assists, while Ashton Burroughs, coming off the bench, scored eight points, and CJ Polkinghorn and Parker Vaughn each had five rebounds. Dan McGreal, the other starter, finished with six points, two rebounds, two steals and one assist. 

As a team, the Warriors shot 39.6 percent from the field and drained eight of 24 three pointers, while securing 27 rebounds, 12 assists and seven steals. 

“I was very pleased with our man-to-man defense the last quarter of the game, and our ability to get defensive stops was a big reason we were able to come out victorious,” Stramer added. 

In the next game against Turkey Valley, the Warriors started strong, taking a 20-11 lead, but poor ball control led to a comeback by Turkey Valley, and the Warriors were out-scored 15-2, giving Turkey Valley a four-point lead heading into halftime. 

“As far as the second quarter against Turkey Valley, we simply did not handle their 1-3-1 defensive pressure in an adequate way. We turned the ball over 12 times in that quarter, which is unacceptable,” Stramer said of the situation. 

The Warriors continued to compete, but the deficit couldn’t be overcome. 

The Warriors were led by Pensel with 14 points, four assists and four steals, while fellow team leader, Loan, finished with 11 points, seven rebounds, two assists and two steals. Polkinghorn had six points, two rebounds and one assist, while McGreal added three points, two rebounds, three assists and one steal. Key bench player Burroughs came in for six points, and Elliot Kelly added five points, three rebounds and four steals. 

Central shot 39.5 percent from the field and made 10 of 38 three pointers. They finished the game with 20 rebounds, 15 assists and 11 steals, but the worrisome statistics were the 19 turnovers and 19 fouls. 

“I was happy with how our guys continued to compete and showed improvement against their defensive pressure in the second half, especially in the fourth quarter,” Stramer said. 

In the last game of the week, against South Winneshiek, the Warriors were simply out-matched and once against struggled in the second quarter. By halftime, South Winneshiek had a 23-point lead. 

“The second quarter against South Winneshiek was more about the defensive end than the offensive. We were out-matched in terms of height and strength, so we tried packing in the paint to force them into perimeter jump shots, which we felt would be a lower percentage of success for them. Unfortunately for us, they shot incredibly well from the field that quarter, while we missed some open shots that we normally make,” Stramer explained. 

Loan finished with team highs in points and rebounds, with 13 and nine, respectively, while Pensel added eight points and seven rebounds. McGreal contributed six points, five assists and four rebounds. Abenet Lammers was a revelation coming off the bench, going 4-8, ending with nine points, one rebound and one steal. 

The South Winneshiek defense held the Warriors to 32.7 percent shooting and forced 19 turnovers. The Warriors also committed 17 fouls. 

“Overall, I think our area of improvement on the offensive end is always going to come back to limiting turnovers and trying to attack the basket. While the score would not suggest so, we did do a better job of attacking the defense on Friday than we did against Turkey Valley on Tuesday,” Stramer said.

Moving forward, Stramer acknowledged the team has made minor adjustments to the lineup and will continue to weigh their options. 

He added, “Our focus is going to be to continue to improve our execution on both ends of the court. We have shown the ability to do what needs to be done in small doses, we just need to do it on a more consistent basis, which I am confident we will do.”

The Warriors head back to the court on Tuesday, Dec. 22, at MFL MarMac. 

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