Cardinal girls pound Eagle Grove, 61-37

It wasn’t much of a fight for the Garner-Hayfield-Ventura girls basketball team when they traveled to Eagle Grove on Tuesday, Nov. 25.  The Cardinals powered their way to a 61-37 victory over the host team.

The game was tight in the first quarter, with GHV managing to gain a lead, but then Eagle Grove would sneak back in.  At one point the Cardinals managed a 14-8 lead, but the Eagles closed the gap to 14-11.  The first quarter ended with Mackenzie Van Gerpen connecting on a two-point shot to end the period, 19-11.

“We got off to a somewhat slow start defensively, which allowed them to stay in the game in the first quarter,” said Head Coach Matt Erpelding. 

The Cardinals stretched the lead in the second quarter behind the hot hand of Grace Tusha, who connected for two in a row to go up by 10, 25-15.  GHV kept building on the lead and headed into the half with a score of 37-19.

The Cardinals outscored Eagle Grove 14-5 in the third quarter.  The bench took over with 1:32 remaining in the third quarter, 51-24.

“Having a comfortable lead, we were able to get our bench a lot of minutes in the second half.  In fact, only five of our second half points came from the starters,” said Erpelding.

The Eagles picked it up in the fourth quarter and outscored GHV’s bench, 13-10, for the final 61-37.

Hannah Lau and Jillian Heitland both hit double figures with 14 and 10 points respectively.  Lau and Heitland also led the team under the boards.  Lau collected eight rebounds and Heitland grabbed six.

Other scoring leaders included Emily Spilman and Grace Tusha with eight points apiece.  Mackenzie Van Gerpen had six points and Mackenzie Haag had five.  Mackenzie Van Gerpen was the only player to connect on a three-point shot.

Mackenzie Van Gerpen and Sydney Younge had four rebounds apiece, while Spilman, Tusha, Haag, Taryn Carolus and Olivia Buseman all had three boards.

Spilman’s speed paid off, as she led the team with six steals.  Heitland had two steals.

Lau led the team in blocks with three.  Tusha, Tiara Van Gerpen and Buseman each had one block.

“I liked our execution on the offensive end.  For being our first game, I thought we did a good job of being patient and having good shot selection,” said Erpelding.  “We did miss several easy, point blank shots, but we have to be happy with the looks we were getting.”

The Cardinals are home on Friday night, Dec. 5, as they host West Hancock.  The JV team begins at 4 p.m. and the varsity girls will take the floor at 6:15 p.m.