Nelson, Mangels make all-conference hoops

Nodaway Valley/OM boys basketball season Dawson Nelson was a unanimous selection for second team all-conference in the Pride of Iowa at the conclusion of the season while the team’s other senior, Jacob Mangels, made all-conference honorable mention.

While the season was a growing experience with an overall record of 3-19 and 1-12 in the league, head coach Thad Tussey expressed gratitude for what the two seniors did in leading the team and for the growth the program did see from the first to the last game of the year.

The end of the season included a win over Interstate 35 in non-conference play, then a 45-44 win over East Union on the road in the first round of Class 1A district action.

“As the season went along, we were giving a handful of guys opportunities to get some varsity minutes to see what was going to be the most productive. Anybody who could play defense, box out, rebound and guard the basketball was going to earn playing time. It’s more difficult to get motivated to play defense than offense,” Tussey said. “Overall, it was a long process to figure out who played the best together and who was going to be productive. In the end, we were looking for the seven or eight guys who were playing the best basketball at the end of the season, because the schedule in and of itself was a grind.”

Tussey said that Pride of Iowa Conference was the “toughest I’ve seen it in awhile.” In the end, Bedford was the clearest front-runner.

Nelson received the rebounding, assists and steals leader awards for his team at a recent season-end banquet they had, and he was also their offensive most valuable player. He was a 700 Free Throw Club member.

“We went as Dawson went. His two-point shot got better as the season went along. We couldn’t afford to take him out of the games,” Tussey said. “With the weather and rescheduled games we were missing practices and missing games, so we were playing back to back. Fatigue became a factor because we weren’t very deep. Dawson exerted a lot of effort.”

Mangels received a sportsmanship award at the recent banquet but also was a threat to score in various games the Wolverines played.

Tussey calls Mangels “Mr. Steady and Mr. Consistent.”

“You knew what to expect from him night in and night out. He could knock down open shots. Depending who was on the floor, he played our 4-spot, so he played inside and outside,” Tussey said. “Traditionally, post players aren’t used to guarding somebody on the 3-point line, and he got a a lot of open shots by playing that spot. In the high post, he was able to knock down that shot too, or go around players who maybe weren’t as quick laterally. With him at the 4, we also missed him on the perimeter full-time, because that’s probably where he was the biggest threat.”

While due to multiple factors it was hard to develop consistency throughout the season, Tussey is excited to see how his younger players develop with another year playing together in the offseason.

“We got a lot of guys some varsity minutes to give them a taste of varsity action so next year won’t be their first year of varsity minutes,” Tussey said. “The more these guys play together the better off they’ll be. The more time they spend with a ball in their hands, the more shots they can get up, the more games they can play outside of the basketball season, time is the best resource.”

Other team awards given were Paul Berg was blocks leader and defensive MVP; Titus Hamer as charges taken leader and a sportsmanship award; Bryar Hudson as a member of the 700 Free Throw Club; Jaxson Stringer as most improved player; Garrett Welsch with a scout team award and Welsch and Parker Schneider was JV MVPs.