Warriors’ defense shines in wins over Postville and Clayton Ridge
By Willis Patenaude, Times-Register
Last week was one of winning for the Central girls basketball team, as the Warriors extended their current win streak to three games with convincing victories over Clayton Ridge and Postville.
“Defense was the tone setter in both home games. We did an excellent job of creating turnovers and converting these into points against Clayton Ridge and Postville. We pushed the basketball in transition and converted on offense at a better percentage,” said coach Mark Wiley.
The Warrior defense held the Eagles to just 15 points in the opening game of the week, and never let them score more than five points in any quarter, while also forcing 20 turnovers, 13 steals and two blocked shots.
On the other side of the ball, the Central offense put up 48 points on 35.7 percent shooting from the field, with Ashlyn Scherf scoring 17 points and Grace Kuehl 16, as the Warriors routed the Eagles 48-15.
Scherf also had three rebounds, four assists and four steals, while Kuehl finished with six rebounds, three steals and one block. Gracie Cummer got in on the action with five points and eight rebounds, Brooklyn Amsden put up four points and two rebounds and Brylee Erickson finished with three points, four rebounds and three assists.
The Warriors continued the defensive trend versus the Pirates, locking Postville’s offense down, while finding an offensive rhythm. Central won 66-26, it what was notably the 200th career victory for Wiley.
“We have found more offense the last three games because we are learning our offenses and not having to react within the offense. We are starting to just play basketball,” Wiley said.
The Warriors sit at 4-3 and were back on the court Dec. 18 versus 14th-ranked Edgewood-Colesburg. They faced Turkey Valley Dec. 19, and will end the week at home versus North Fayette Valley on Dec. 22.