Cardinals top West Hancock; fall to Belmond-Klemme

The Garner-Hayfield/Ventura boys split a pair of games last week.

G-H/V 70, West Hancock 57

Despite a poor start, the Garner-Hayfield/Ventura boys battled back to capture a solid win against West Hancock on Tuesday, Dec. 4.

Hot shooting by the Eagles and poor decisions by the Cardinals, helped the West Hancock team jump to an early 9-2 lead.  G-H/V battled back and garnered a nine point lead, but that was answered by the Eagles and the Cardinals only took a two point lead into halftime, 28-26.

“We had a hard time scoring in transition and playing at their pace early in the game,” said Coach Joe Albertson.

The Eagles kicked up their game in the third quarter and outscored G-H/V, 25-21, to take the lead, 51-49.  The Cardinals broke open the game in the fourth quarter dumping in 21 points to West Hancock’s six, for the final, 70-57.

Joel Toppin had a hot hand for the Cardinals, leading the team with 26 points, many coming from free throws where Toppin was 11/13.  Also breaking into double figures was Jake Wolf with 12 and Zach Buseman and Heath Hutcheson each had 11 points.  Buseman connected on three three-point shots, while Hutcheson connected on two.  Also scoring was Braden Meints with eight and Austin Kropp had two points.

Wolf played a strong game under the boards, collecting 10 rebounds.  Meints grabbed six rebounds, while Toppin, Hutcheson and Buseman all had five.

Hutcheson and Spencer Shaw led the team in assists with four apiece.  Hutcheson also led the team in steals with five.

Coach Albertson praised the free throw shooting of Toppin and credited Wolf and Buseman for coming off the bench and doing a great job.  

Belmond-Klemme 45, G-H/V 26

G-H/V knew going into Friday night’s game with Belmond-Klemme that they had to defend some good shooters with a lot of game experience.  That proved to be true, as the Broncos were too much for the Cardinals as they handed them a 45-26 loss.

Defense was tight on both sides of the ball in the first quarter ending in an 8-8 tie.  In the second quarter Belmond-Klemme broke a tie with a 9-0 run.  A few stops and five free throws later, the Cardinals cut the lead to two points by the half, 17-15.

Solid play by Austin Kropp helped to knot the score at 24-24 in the third quarter.  However, that was as close as the Cards could get.

“We had trouble scoring, identifying their shooters, and possessing the ball,” said Coach Joe Albertson.  “Overall, there were some positives, but we will have to make some improvements on both sides of the ball to win some games.”

Kropp led the team with 11 points.  Rounding out the low scoring game was Joel Toppin and Heath Hutcheson with five points apiece, Zach Buseman contributed three points and Jake Wolf added two.

The rebound leader was Hutcheson with six, followed by Kropp and Braden Meints with four apiece.

Hutcheson had three steals, while Spencer Shaw and Meints each had two steals.

G-H/V hosts Central Springs on Thursday, Dec. 13.