Cardinals top Osage; fall to Algona

The Garner-Hayfield/Ventura boys basketball team picked up a win and loss in action played last week.  The Cardinals moved their record to 14-4 in the North Iowa Conference and 15-5 overall.

GHV 41, Osage 33

Consistent scoring by the Cardinals led to a 41-33 victory against Osage on Tuesday, Feb. 3.   

GHV’s Sam Cataldo came out and showed the Green Devils he meant business, as he poured in six points to jump to an early 9-4 lead.  Payton James hit a shot at the end of the first period to go up, 11-4.

The Cardinals held a comfortable lead, but Osage sunk back-to-back threes to gain ground and close the margin to 22-16 by halftime.

GHV’s defense was strong in the third quarter, holding the Green Devils to just four points, while they collected 10 more, for a 32-20 third quarter score.

The Cardinals led 39-27 with 1:29 remaining in the game, but once again Osage connected on back-to-back threes to close the gap to 39-33.  Jonathan O’Connor ended the game with two free throws for the final 41-33 victory.

“It was a strange game,” said Coach Joe Albertson.  “It was a much slower paced game than we have played.  Regardless of the pace, the guys did a nice job defending the perimeter shooters and keeping their drivers out of the lane.”

Sam Cataldo recorded a double-double for the Cardinals with 19 points and 11 rebounds to go with his two blocked shots and one assist.

“Sam’s play in the post was the difference in the game,” said Albertson.

Rounding out the scoring was Holden Hutcheson with seven, Harley Forry and Payton James each had five points, and Jonathan O’Connor added four.  Turner Albertson had one point.

Hutcheson and Logan Ryerson were also leaders under the boards, with seven and five rebounds respectively.

O’Connor and Ryerson led the team in assists with three apiece.  Forry recorded two steals.

Algona 52, GHV 33

A disastrous first half doomed the Cardinals when they hosted Algona (15-3) on Saturday, Feb. 7.

Two free throws by Holden Hutchison and a three-point shot by Turner Albertson were the only points scored by the Cardinals in the first quarter, while the Bulldogs collected 16.

The second quarter wasn’t much better, with GHV again only collecting five points.  Algona had a huge, 28-10 lead by halftime.

“We got off to a terrible start on both ends of the floor,” said Coach Joe Albertson.  “We gave up too many shots in the paint and gave up the ball on offense too many times.”

The Cardinals found their groove in the second half, but it was too little, too late.  The two teams played even in the second half, both scoring 14 points in the third quarter, 42-24.  The deficit was too great and GHV just couldn’t make up that much ground.  They fell, 52-33, to the Bulldogs.

“The guys battled hard in the second half and everyone made a contribution, but we need to get more physical and aggressive to beat a top team like Algona,” said Albertson.

The scoring was balanced among the Cardinals, with Jonathan O’Connor leading the way with nine points. Ben Baumgard wasn’t far behind with eight points.  Rounding out the scoring was Holden Hutcheson with six, Turner Albertson added five, Sam Cataldo had three points and Nathan Lacaria had two points.

Hutcheson and Harley Forry led the team under the boards with three rebounds apiece.  Cataldo had two boards to go with his three blocked shots.

O’Connor led the team in steals with three.  Forry was the assist leader with three.

The Cardinals open Class 2A District 4 action at home on Monday night, Feb. 16, against Clarion-Goldfield/Dows.  Game time is 8 p.m.