G-H/V girls clicking at the right time of the season

The Garner-Hayfield/Ventura girls are rolling at the right time of the season.  The Cardinals picked up two big wins last week, moving their record to 13-6 overall and 9-4 in the North Iowa Conference.

G-H/V 53, Lake Mills 39

It was a tale of two halves for the G-H/V girls when they traveled to Lake Mills on Tuesday, Jan. 29.

“We came out sloppy, turning the ball over on two of our first three possessions,” said Coach Matt Erpelding.

The errors helped the Bulldogs jump to an early 8-0 lead in the opening minutes.  Coach Erpelding gave the team a strict talking to at a time out and the newly focused team came back and outscored Lake Mills, 34-8, for a halftime score of 34-16.  The team shot 56 percent from the floor in the first half as a result of good offensive execution.

Coach Erpelding said he made some defensive changes at the half, which caused the team to struggle in the second half.

“I think that change caused us to lose our aggressiveness and intensity and we did a poor job rotating and rebounding,” said Erpelding.  “We only knocked down 29 percent of our attempts in the second half.”

The big first half lead was more than enough, as the Cardinals picked up the easy 53-39 victory.

Two players scored in double digits.  Maddie Tusha collected 13 points and Emily Spilman added 11.  Mackenzie Haag and Bri Bier each had seven points, while Hannah Hutcheson added six.

Bier led the team under the boards with five rebounds, followed closely by Tusha and Haag with four apiece.  Hutcheson and Shelby Rayhons had three rebounds each.  

Tusha had an excellent night on defense, collecting a game-high eight steals and blocking two shots.  She also led the team in assists with five.

G-H/V 61, Forest City 40

Balanced scoring and solid defense helped G-H/V to a decisive 61-40 win over North Iowa Conference foe Forest City on Friday night.

The decisive win didn’t begin until the second half, as both teams were very evenly matched in the first half.  The Cardinals could only manage a one point lead by halftime, 23-22. 

“After the halftime break we did a much better job of being patient on the offensive end and getting the shots we wanted out of the offense,” said Coach Matt Erpelding.  “By doing that we were much more efficient with our possessions which allowed us to put up 38 points, while our defense remained solid.”

The Cardinals outscored the Indians, 17-7, in the third quarter.  They also had a solid fourth quarter, outshooting Forest City, 21-11, for the final 61-40 victory.

“Again our balanced scoring put a lot of pressure on their defense, as they couldn’t focus on stopping just one person, because someone else would step up to make big shots,” said Erpelding.

The balanced scoring came from Bri Bier, Hannah Hutcheson and Emily Spilman.  Bier and Hutcheson each had 13 points, while Spilman added 12.

The team had a solid night at the free throw line, connecting on 13/17 shots for a 76.5 percent average.

The defensive play of Maddie Tusha was also a big bonus for the Cards.  Tusha collected six rebounds and had five steals and two blocked shots.  She also - Read More Via e-Edition