Close normally doesn’t count, but for the young and rebuilding Nodaway Valley boys basketball program, moral victories are still helping boost confidence.
The Wolverines dropped two games last week — a 59-55 home loss to West Central Valley and a 71-56 road loss at Southwest Valley, one of the top Pride of Iowa teams this season. Nodaway Valley slipped to 1-8 overall and is still searching for its first conference win.
Four of the Wolverines’ losses have come by five points or fewer, a sign the program is ahead of schedule in its rebuild. Wins may be close at hand, as Nodaway Valley faces four opponents this week. The Wolverines played at East Union on Monday and at Mount Ayr on Tuesday. Panorama visits for the lone home game of the week before Nodaway Valley closes the stretch with a Friday night road game at Wayne.
Nodaway Valley played Southwest Valley as close as any team has this season. The 56 points scored by the Wolverines were the most the Timberwolves had allowed through 11 games and the highest total surrendered by Southwest Valley to a conference opponent this year. The teams will meet again Jan. 27 in Greenfield. Southwest Valley is tied with Southeast Warren in the loss column with two POI defeats, one game behind co-leaders Mount Ayr and Martensdale-St. Marys, each with one conference loss.
The Timberwolves appeared in control early, leading 14-9 after the first quarter, but Nodaway Valley matched Southwest Valley’s 21 second-quarter points to trim the halftime deficit to 35-30.
Both teams scored 17 points in the third quarter, making it 52-47 heading into the final period. Southwest Valley pulled away in the fourth, using another 14-9 run to secure the win.
Ty Rardin led Nodaway Valley with 20 points and seven assists. Titan Foster recorded a double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds, while Cassius Burnside added nine points off the bench.
Cael Hogan and Walker Bissell co-led Southwest Valley with 22 points apiece. Hogan reached a milestone in the win, surpassing the 1,000-point mark for his career.