BOYS HOOPS: NV/OM looks for good practices to translate into games

The Atlantic Trojans performed well in many areas of the game and the Nodaway Valley/OM Wolverines struggled to gain footing early on, leading to a 72-35 boys basketball win for the Trojans in a non-conference game Saturday at Nodaway Valley High School.

Atlantic led 22-11 at the close of the first quarter as the Trojans got 14 first-quarter points from Colton Rasmussen, who finished the game with 27.

While the Wolverines know they’ll see their hard work pay off with a win at some point, NV/OM head coach Thad Tussey said the team knows what they need to work on.

“We’ve gotta be ready to play from the get go. We’ve gotta put four quarters together, can’t put ourselves in a hole and dig out of it because that’s a tall task,” Tussey said. “We have to respond to adversity when things don’t go our way. We have to fight and have to battle. We have to do the fundamentals right.”

Wolverine senior Dawson Nelson poured in 27 points for the game, leading his team in many aspects of the game.

Tussey commented that his squad had a very good week of practice leading into this game, so speaking from experience, that tends to pay off in games at some point.

“We had our best week of practice, so I was a little surprised last night at Corning that we played the way we did,” Tussey said Saturday, referring to a 69-24 loss to Southwest Valley, in which Nelson led the team with 12 points. “Last week was some of the best practices we’ve had all season. You play like you practice and you practice like you play. Eventually that’ll come.”

The Wolverines additionally lost 70-36 last Tuesday at home against Bedford. Nelson scored 17 that night as leading scorer. The Bulldogs were paced with Brody King’s 17 points, Silas Walston’s 16 and Cal Peterman’s 15.

Nodaway Valley/OM faced a home game Tuesday against Lenox before traveling to Martensdale-St. Marys Thursday. At 0-4 on the season, Tussey said he’s more focused on his team cleaning up little things than the opponents they face right now.

“The kids have been working hard and they’re making corrections in practice. We’re working toward making corrections and adjustments in a game, depending on what the opponent gives us. We’re improving in that aspect with our basketball-sense,” Tussey said. “Every team has strengths and weaknesses, so we’re going to try to play to our strengths, hide our weaknesses and practice Monday to fix some things and prepare ourselves to go Tuesday looking for a victory.”