Nodaway Valley sweeps doubleheader

GREENFIELD – Big runs were the story of both the girls and boys games between Nodaway Valley and East Union Tuesday night at Nodaway Valley High School.

The Wolverine girls led 18-12 at the half, and hadn’t performed up to their coaches expectations. The third quarter was a different story, propelling Nodaway Valley to a 44-25 victory.

Alyssa Davis and Nodaway Valley pounced on the offensive glass,

powering the Wolverines to a 16-4 advantage in the third period alone.

Davis scored three buckets on three consecutive possessions, quickly adding six points to her final tally of 16.

“Offensively obviously she’s a big part of what we do,” said Nodaway Valley head coach Tom Thompson. “She shoots the ball well and a good scorer for us.”

The Wolverines’ full court defensive pressure hamstrung East Union’s ability to move the ball up the floor and abruptly changed the tempo of the game.

Reagan Weinheimer finished with just two made free throws, but her defensive impact was crucial for Nodaway Valley’s success.

“It’s critical,” said Thompson. “She is very strong for her size, one of our stronger girls pound-for-pound ... She gets in other guards’ heads and its a real factor.”

East Union’s head coach Mike Cooley was pleased with his teams’ defensive performance, but knows the offensive efficiency is the next puzzle piece to fall into place.

“A lot of times, what’s happening with my team right now is they see things, but they see it a little late,” said Cooley. “Or they see it and they react late.”

Sidney McFee had a team-high eight points for the Eagles, but all of those baskets came in the first half.

The Eagles were able to get to the charity stripe, but shot just 5 of 18 on freebies.

Annie Herr posted 10 points for the Wolverines, including a jump shot from the elbow right out of the locker room.

Thompson knows they have to get contributions from everywhere, on every given night. And they have to move the ball.

“We’re not going to be successful as a slowed down half-court team. We just don’t have the size or the weapons,” said Thompson. “We’ve just got to use our quickness and our depth and run other teams into the ground.”

Cooley admits his team lacks experience, but doesn’t knock their effort.

“We hustle, I’ve never fault the girls on effort,” said Cooley. “They hustle, they may get a little tired, but they don’t have much depth or as much depth as I would like.”

UP NEXT – Nodaway Valley (4-0) hosts Martensdale-St. Marys (2-2) in a conference matchup.

East Union looks for its first win this season when they travel to Wayne on Friday.

NV (44) – 5 13 16 10

EU (25) – 2 10 4 9

NV (FG FT PTS) – Alyssa Davis 7 1-2 16, Annie Herr 5 0-2 10, Macy Kuhns 3 0-1 6, Corinne Bond 2 0-2 4, Addie Lamb 1 1-3 3, Reagan Weinheimer 0 2-4 2, McKynna Newbury 1 0-0 2. Totals – 19 6-21 44. 3-point goals – None.

EU (FG FT PTS) – Sidney McFee 4 0-2 8, Callie Gossman 2 3-4 7, Cassidy Riley 2 0-2 4, Kendra Kirkland 2 0-0 4, Olivia Eckels 0 2-6 2. Totals – 10 5-18 25. 3-point goals – None.

NV boys pounce early on EU

It didn’t take long for the Nodaway Valley boys to jump on top of their foe.

The Wolverines exploded out on a 23-0 run to start the game, before eventually winning 65-34.

Spencer Thompson had 11 of the Wolverines first 23 points, sprinting out in transition to take advantage of missed East Union shots and turnovers. Thompson finished with a game-high 23 points and seven rebounds.

East Union mustered up a lone basket in the final ten seconds of the first quarter on a 3-pointer from Kaden Kirkland.

Nodaway Valley head coach Darrell Burmeister admitted that the Wolverines played to their gameplan.

“We know they weren’t really deep and we wanted to play up tempo,” said Burmeister.

Brady Hilpipre had five points in the first quarter run before completing the night with 13 points and six rebounds.

“I think we need to get Hilpipre a few more touches in the paint,” said Burmeister. “I think he’s a heckuva ball player. We need to get him the ball more because he can really help us out.”

The Wolverines defense shut down East Union’s one-two guard combo of Matt McGuire and Kyle Campbell. The duo combined for just nine points and Campbell spent long stretches on the bench due to foul trouble.

“We just weren’t mentally prepared,” said Eat Union head coach Jared Carter. “It was as simple as that.”

Carter found some positives in the Eagles game outside of the first quarter, but sparingly.

“Once we moved the ball, we got good shots,” said Carter. “The whole first quarter we didn’t move the ball, we went to one side of the floor and got stagnant.”

Carter said East Union’s No. 1 focus in practice this week will be ball movement. He wants the Eagles to get everyone involved in the offense and keep defenses on their toes.

Trevor Jones led the Eagles in points with eight.

Nodaway Valley’s press disrupted any rhythm East Union could muster, which led to a multitude of turnovers. The Wolverines forced 13 steals as a team.

Burmeister still noticed a handful of things that the Wolverines could do better.

“Offensively, we could have run our zone offenses a little bit better,” said Burmeister. “We had seven team fouls and they only had one in the third quarter. We don’t need to foul that much.”

UP NEXT – Nodaway Valley hosts Martensdale-St. Marys in a big-time conference matchup. Burmeister said the Wolverines key to staying atop the conference will be defending their home floor.

East Union will look to regroup against Wayne, a team that has started this young season 2-1.

NV (65) – 23 18 15 9

EU (34) – 3 14 6 11

NV (FG FT PTS) – Spencer Thompson 9 2-5 23, Brady Hilpipre 6 0-0 13, Tyler Vandewater 3 1-1 8, Aryll Shantz 3 2-4 8, Joshua Baudler 2 2-2 6, Toby Bower 1 0-0 3, Corbin Bond 1 1-1 3, Max Kuhns 0 1-2 1. Totals – 25 9-16 65. 3-point goals – 6 (Thompson 3, Vandewater 1, Hilpipre 1, Bower 1).

EU (FG FT PTS) – Trevor Jones 3 0-3 8, Dillon Weis 1 5-10 7, Kyle Campbell 2 2-2 7, Kaden Kirkland 1 1-2 4, Matt McGuire 1 0-2 2, Levi Exline 0 2-4 2, Evan Collins 1 0-0 2, Brayden Martinez 1 0-0 2. Totals – 10 10-13 34. 3-point goals – 4 (James 2, Campbell 1, Kirkland 1).