Cardinals top North Iowa and Lake Mills; fall to Algona

The Garner-Hayfield/Ventura boys moved their North Iowa Conference record to 6-3 with two more wins.

GHV 52-North Iowa 32

Jake Wolf was the reason the Cardinals came away with a 52-32 win over North Iowa on Tuesday, Jan. 7.

“North Iowa brought back some experienced players, including the biggest post we have seen this season,” said Coach Joe Albertson.  “I wasn’t sure how effective we’d be in the paint, but Jake showed everybody early.  He was aggressive inside and led us to a first half lead.”

The Cardinals and Bison were evenly matched in the first quarter with GHV gaining a slight 17-15 lead.  The Cardinals picked it up in the second quarter on their way to a 31-23 lead by halftime.  GHV outscored North Iowa 21-9 in the second half for an easy 52-32 victory.

Wolf led the team on both offense and defense with 20 points and nine rebounds.

Braden Meints also had a good game with 13 points, seven rebounds and two steals.

Spencer Shaw led the team in assists with seven.

Coach Albertson also praised the play of Adam Monson, who came off the bench to give the Cardinals some spark.

GHV 73, Lake Mills 69

Two very evenly matched teams squared off on Friday, Jan. 10, when the Cardinals traveled to Lake Mills (3-2, 7-2).  In the end, it was GHV’s team effort that scored them the 73-69 victory.

The Cardinals jumped to an early 11-2 lead in the first quarter, before the Bulldogs went on a 10-point run, bringing the score to 11-12.  GHV had a two-point advantage, 14-12, at the end of the first quarter.  The Cardinals managed to jump ahead by five points in the second quarter, 24-19, before the Bulldogs knotted the score at 27-27.  The Cardinals pulled ahead, 37-31, but a key three-pointer by Lake Mills put the halftime score at 37-34.

“Lake Mills has been difficult to guard in the past.  They run their offense very well, so you need to be ready,” said Coach Joe Albertson.

It took a while to get the scoring going in the third period, but from there it was balanced with GHV outscoring Lake Mills 16-14 in the third period for a third quarter score of 53-48.  The game came down to the wire in the fourth quarter.  The Bulldogs pulled to within two, 67-65.  Some key freethrows by Joel Toppin and Holden Hutcheson helped the Cardinals seal the 73-69 victory.

“The difference in this game was how well we shot the ball and