March 29, 2024

Area girls basketball roundup: O-M first win; Pride of Iowa contests

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Orient-Macksburg 56, East Union 45

ORIENT – The Bulldog girls trailed by six heading into the final quarter of play, but put together arguably their most impressive quarter of the season in posting 23 points to the Eagles’ seven Monday, resulting in a 56-45 win.

“Luckily (they) dropped back into a 2-3 zone, which is kind of what we thrive on. If they sit back in a 2-3 we can hit the outside shots and I feel like that helped us pull ahead,” said O-M head coach Kim DeJongh.

Kaela Eslinger stayed hot throughout the contest, dropping 31 points as well as hitting five 3-pointers.

O-M also capitalized at the free throw line as the Bulldogs sank 15 of 26 attempts. Hailey Johnson buried all four free throw attempts she had in the second half on her way to 12 points.

The 11-point victory goes down as O-M’s first win of the year.

Diagonal 41, Orient-Macksburg 29

DIAGONAL – Just an 11-8 game after one half of play went in favor of the Maroonettes Tuesday as Diagonal came out on top 41-29.

Erin Sobotka had a game-high 17 points for the Maroonettes to go with 11 rebounds.

Bailey Taylor led Diagonal with 16 boards to go along with 12 points.

Hailey Johnson led the Bulldogs with 14 points, while Kaela Eslinger had 11 more for Orient-Macksburg.

Southwest Valley 55, Stanton 27

STANTON – Jentry Schafer and Lexie Haer were the two lone double-digit scorers for Southwest Valley Jan. 10 in the Timberwolves’ 55-27 win over Stanton.

Schafer put together a double double with 13 points and 10 rebounds while Haer scored 11 points and pulled down four boards.

All but two Timberwolves made their way onto the scoresheet in the win as SWV didn’t allow Stanton to score more than nine points in a quarter.

“We got off to a good start and were able to carry it throughout the entire game,” said SWV head coach Allen Naugle. “I thought our defense played very well and showed a lot of improvement.”

Southwest Valley 73, Grand View Christian 38

CORNING – A big night from sophomore Marah Larsen and Schafer helped propel the Timberwolves past Grand View Christian Monday 73-38.

Larsen posted 16 points, hitting 8-of-15 field goals from the floor while Schafer posted a monstrous 24 points, sinking 11 field goals.

Morgan Shuey posted a double double with 11 points while adding 10 boards. Shuey also swiped six steals in the win.

“Our defense played very well all night and we did a very good job rebounding,” said Naugle. “Offensively, we attacked their defense very well and created a lot of easy shots.”

Southwest Valley 60, Nodaway Valley 52

GREENFIELD – Kayley Myers helped guide the Tmberwolves past Nodaway Valley Tuesday with a 19-point performance that led SWV to a Pride of Iowa conference win.

Southwest Valley led by 10 points after the first quarter and just fought off a tough Nodaway Valley team the rest of the way to win.

Haer had a double double with 10 points and 10 boards.

“We got off to a great start to the game,” said Naugle. “We then went a little flat, but the girls really battled and continued to hold onto the lead throughout the rest of the game. We had a lot of girls step up in big moments when we needed them.”

Nodaway Valley had three scorers in double figures as Alyssa Davis and Corinne Bond led the Wolverines with 13 points each while Annie Herr posted 12 points.

Mount Ayr 80, Murray 41

MURRAY – Mount Ayr used a big second half to skate past Murray Monday 80-41.

The Raiderettes outscored the Lady Mustangs 47-19 in the second half, led mainly by Kierston Klommhaus’ 22 points.

Mount Ayr’s defense continued to cause problems, forcing 26 steals.

Sam Stewart had seven of those steals and scored 16 points for Mount Ayr in the win.

“I saw a lot of hustle plays that ended in our favor. We played with a lot of poise tonight,” said Mount Ayr head coach Thad Streit.

Bre Klein led the Lady Mustangs’ scoring effort with 14 points. Ally Waske had eight points and six rebounds in the loss.

Mount Ayr 51, Lenox 35

LENOX – Rachel Sobotka posted 16 points in the Raiderettes’ 16-point win over Lenox Tuesday by a 51-35 final.

Sam Stewart stuffed the stat sheet with 10 points, nine steals, four rebounds and five assists.

Klommhaus and Maddie Stewart scored nine and eight points, respectively.

“We are starting to find our identity and play to our strengths,” said Streit. “We do some nice things and we are starting to be fun to watch.”

Lamoni 52, Murray 41

MURRAY – Murray fell to a tough Bluegrass Conference opponent Monday, losing 52-41 to Lamoni.

Klein finished the contest with 16 points, going a perfect 8-8 from the free throw line while also having seven rebounds and three steals.

Waske scored eight points for the Lady Mustangs while pulling down six boards and Kendra Boles scored seven points to go with eight rebounds.

“Had an opportunity to stay in second place in the conference tonight, but didn’t take advantage of it,” said head coach Jerry Shields. “Our intensity level was not very high for what was on the line.”