Cardinals move NIC record to 6-6

The Garner-Hayfield/Ventura boys basketball team split a pair of games last week, moving their North Iowa Conference record to 6-6 and the overall record to 9-9.

GHV 50, Lake Mills 39

It was a team victory Tuesday night, Feb. 4, when GHV hosted Lake Mills (7-4, 11-5).  Everyone on the team saw some playing time in the 50-39 Cardinal victory.

“I was hoping we would be able to play with a lot of energy from start to finish, and we did,” said Coach Joe Albertson.

Three players came off the bench, Teddy Zrostlik, Jimmy Ermer and Luke Wolf, to give the Cards some extra spark.

“Teddy was scoring in the paint, Jimmy was finding the open man, and Luke was active defensively.  It was great to see several players help in some way to push us to a victory,” said Albertson.

The game was close until the fourth quarter.  The score was knotted at 15-15 at the end of the first quarter.  By halftime, the Cardinals held a slight 23-19 lead.  GHV outscored the Bulldogs by only one point in the third quarter, 36-31.  It wasn’t until the fourth quarter that the Cardinals started to roll.   GHV outscored Lake Mills 14-8 in the fourth quarter for the final 50-39 victory.

Braden Meints was the only player to reach double figures.  He connected on 2/3 from the three-point arc and ended the night with 16 points.  He was also a rebound leader, hauling in six rebounds to go along with his three assists and four steals.

Rounding out the scoring was Jake Wolf with nine, Joel Toppin added seven, Ted Zrostlik had six points and Spencer Shaw chipped in five.  Sam Cataldo, Harley Forry and Jonathan O’Connor had two points apiece and Luke Wolf had one point.

Jake Wolf hauled in six rebounds and Toppin and Luke Wolf each had three rebounds.  

Shaw led the team in assists with four.

Forest City 67, GHV 55

The Cardinals dropped a North Iowa Conference game to foe Forest City on Friday, Feb. 7.  The victory gave the Indians a share of the conference title.

“We did not get the start we needed when playing on the road,” said Coach Joe Albertson.  “This season we have had trouble winning games when we get behind, but the boys did show a lot of heart in those games by battling back and putting themselves in a position to win.”  

This game was no different.  Forest City built an early 15 point second quarter lead behind the hot shooting of Forest City’s Ethan Erdman, who connected on five three-point shots in the first half.  The Cardinals didn’t give up and forced some turnovers and hit some shots to close the gap to within nine by halftime.

Forest City went on another run in the second half, building a 19 point lead.  GHV rallied again and cut the gap to six points in the fourth quarter.  Forest City regained control in the fourth quarter and put the game out of reach for the Cardinals.

“It was encouraging to see the boys rally,” said Albertson.  “We will need to get better at knocking down shots and reacting more quickly defensively to beat the top teams in the tournament.”

Jake Wolf and Braden Meints led the Cardinals with 14 points apiece.  Harley Forry had one of his better games of the season, collecting 10 points.  Joel Toppin added nine for GHV.

The boys travel to Charles City on Thursday, Feb. 13, for a non-conference game.  On Monday, Feb. 17, the boys host St. Ansgar at 8 p.m. for Class 2A District basketball.