Three Cardinals earn NIC recognition

Toppin earns First Team All-Conference honors

The Garner-Hayfield/Ventura boys basketball team collected numerous conference honors at the conclusion of the North Iowa Conference season.

G-H/V’s coach, Joe Albertson, was named Coach of the Year for the NIC.

The team also had three players earn recognition on the North Iowa Conference teams.  Joel Toppin claimed First Team All-Conference honors, while Braden Meints was named to the Second Team and Austin Kropp 

earned Honorable Mention recognition.

Toppin led the team in field goals, free throws and three-point shooting.  He was 55/130 on field goals, connected on 21/54 three-point shots and was 49/66 from the free throw line.  He scored 180 total points for the 2012-13 season for a 12.86 per game average.  Toppin also averaged 2.36 assists per game.

Meints was 54/99 on field goal shooting.  He connected on 14/40 three-point shots.  He had 133 total points for the season for a 9.50 game average.  He was also strong under the boards, grabbing 79 rebounds for a 5.64 game average.  He also had 17 steals.

Kropp’s fieldgoal shooting was 32/55.  He had 75 rebounds for the season for a 5.36 game average.  He also led the team in blocked shots with nine.

As a team, the Cardinals scored 730 points in 14 games for a 52.1 game average.  The Cardinal defense was the best in the conference.  G-H/V allowed 662 total points, which allowed their opponents only average 47.3 points a game.  The Cards also led the conference in three point shooting, making 91 on 247 attempts.  G-H/V averaged 6.50 trey’s a game.