Tale of two games to start season for Nodaway Valley girls

Class 2A preseason No. 2 Nodaway Valley has experienced a tale of two games to start the girls basketball season.

The Wolverines came out quickly against Adair-Casey/Guthrie Center last Monday and rolled over the Chargers, 75-40, but they followed it up with a convincing defeat to Class 1A No. 4 Springville, 88-53, in the Rivalry Saturday event at Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids five days later.

“Against ACGC, we didn’t do everything clean, but we played really hard and had a lot of fire and excitement,” NV head coach Brian Eisbach said. “We explained to the kids [after the ACGC game] that the opportunity Saturday was a result of hard work and our run last year with what we were returning, and we came out totally opposite. I thought we came out with deer in the headlights. Now we’re tasked with regrouping and drilling down on what we need to do from a coaching and kids on the floor standpoint.”

Springville came out with a 21-13 lead after the first quarter at Kirkwood. The Orioles’ 6-foot senior post Lauren Wilson scored 33 points for her squad, including a 4-of-9 game from beyond the arc, and corralled 10 rebounds. Sophomore Hannah March (16 points) and senior Morgan Nachazel (12) added double-digit scoring outputs for Springville.

Nodaway Valley was led by senior Maddax DeVault’s 15 points. Sophomore Lindsey Davis chipped in 13 and Annika Nelson 10 points and 11 rebounds. Nelson and DeVault each had two steals. The Wolverines were plagued by 24 turnovers against the Orioles.

“We’ve gotta find that vocal leader and spark plug,” Eisbach said. “I think that’s what really shone the brightest for us. It was a better experience in the long run [to play such a good opponent like Springville]. It was good for us to get a pulse and I think we lacked a pulse, to be honest with you.”

The Wolverines led 15-9 after the opening quarter at ACGC. They ratcheted up defensive pressure in the second quarter to outscore the Chargers 28-9 in that quarter and led 43-15 at halftime.

DeVault scored 20 in the win, Davis added 13, Nelson 12 and sophomore Bella Hogan 10.

The Wolverines snatched 20 steals in the game, led by nine by Davis and five by DeVault, and out-rebounded ACGC 40-19. Nelson, senior Terrin Gettler and Hogan all had seven rebounds. DeVault had eight assists and Davis divvied out five.

“We played with confidence. We did a lot of the little things we preach all the time both offensively and defensively. We got out in transition,” Eisbach said. “We proved last year that those things work. Yes, some of the faces are new this year, but we’re athletic and feel we should be able to do those things this year. Monday night the girls did and they won big.”

Nodaway Valley faces a local Class 3A opponent Friday night in welcoming Creston to Greenfield for its home opener. The team turns around to play Saturday morning at Johnston High School against Class 1A’s ninth-ranked Westwood, Sloan.

Eisbach said that aside from senior forward Doryn Paup, who scored 31 points in the Panthers’ season opener against Des Moines Christian, Creston has younger guards and likes to bring pressure with a 1-3-1 zone defense, a style he feels his team needs to on improve playing against early on in the season.

“Anytime you can play somebody that’s from a local community, I’d like to see more games like that each year for our kids,” Eisbach said. “I’ve got a lot of respect for what Tony [Neubauer] and what he’s accomplish in his career [as Creston’s coach]. He’d be the first to tell you that they graduated some talent last year, but so did we. We’re both looking for kids to step up and I think it’ll be a good game. I hope our kids come out with some fire, passion and right the ship a little bit.”