G-H/V girls split a pair of games

It was a week of ups and down for the Garner-Hayfield/Ventura girls basketball team, as they dropped one contest, but came back to win the next.

West Hancock 59, GHV 44

Turnovers and a disastrous second quarter cost the Garner-Hayfield/Ventura girls basketball team a 

game against West Hancock on Tuesday, Dec. 4.

The Cardinals played a competitive first quarter and only trailed by two heading into the second quarter.  But the wheels fell off in the second quarter as the Eagles outscored GHV by 16 points and forced many turnovers.  By halftime, the Cardinals trailed 37-19.

“We started to turn the ball over against their pressure and lost our composure on the defensive end by breaking down on a regular basis,” said Coach Matt Erpelding.

G-H/V regrouped at halftime and regained control of their game.  The Cardinals even outscored the Eagles in the fourth quarter, 14-7, but it wasn’t any where near enough.  They fell, 59-44 to the conference foe.

“Obviously when you turn the ball over 39 times you aren’t going to beat anyone,” said Erpelding.

There were a couple of bright spots in the Cardinals’ line-up. Hannah Hutcheson came to life on offense and led the team with 14 points.  Tiara Van Gerpen came off the bench in the second quarter and added some spark with five steals and 12 points.  Shelby Rayhons also had a good game, despite playing with bruised ribs, leading the team in rebounds with eight and collecting 10 points.

Rounding out the scoring was MacKenzie Haag and Bri Bier with three points apiece and Sydney Younge had two points.

Younge also had a good game with seven rebounds to go with her two blocked shots.  Hutcheson, Bier and Emily Spillman all pulled down four rebounds.

GHV 44, Belmond-Klemme 32

It was a better night for the Cardinals against Belmond-Klemme on Friday, Dec. 6.  They topped the Broncos 44-32.

“Tonight we took better care of the ball and did a good job of pounding the ball inside to our post players, which is where we had our advantage,” said Coach Matt Erpelding.

Field goal shooting still plagued G-H/V, according to the coach, but he was happy with the team’s efforts on defense.  He also praised the play of post player Grace Tusha.

Shelby Rayhons led the Cardinals in points with 11.  She was followed closely by Tusha who contributed nine points, and Bri Bier and Hannah Hutcheson who had eight and seven points respectively.  Rounding out the scoring was Tiara Van Gerpen with six and Mackenzie Haag had three points.

Bier and Rayhons led the team under the boards with 11 and eight rebounds respectively.  Hutcheson pulled down seven and Haag had six rebounds.  Sydney Younge and Tusha had five rebounds apiece.

Hutcheson and Van Gerpen used their speed to nab five and four steals respectively.

“This was an important win for us, as I feel the girls were really lacking self confidence after a couple of tough losses,” said Erpelding.

The Cardinals are home on Thursday, Dec. 13, when they host Central Springs.  Game time is 6:30 p.m.