Boys break through for first POI win at Wayne

CORYDON — All in a night’s work, the Nodaway Valley boys basketball team made their longest road trip of the regular season and racked up their largest point total of the season for a 76-64 win Friday night at Wayne.

The win avenges an earlier loss to the Falcons at home, 44-41 on Dec. 19.

The victory capped a four-game week for the Wolverines where they only played once at home.

This was the team’s first Pride of Iowa Conference win of the season as well, improving them to 2-11 overall and 1-9 in the league.

Other scores from the week were a 64-48 loss Jan. 12 at East Union, a 67-51 loss the next night at Mount Ayr and a 64-59 loss to Panorama Jan. 15.

“It was good to end the week on a positive note. We executed what we wanted to do today and did a lot of good things,” Nodaway Valley head coach Mick Long said.

Long added that to combat recent games with lots of fouls in the first half, he switched to a zone defense.

“We have had some foul trouble here and we went with a zone defense tonight. I don’t like doing that, but it keeps our fouls down and it’s hard to commit a lot of fouls in a zone,” he said. “It’s been a long week for them and I am just happy for them most of all. They have been working hard for a long time. They earned a good win and it is a good way to go into this next stretch of games at home.”

The Wolverines and Falcons were tied at 27 at the half after the Wolverines were down by seven after the first quarter. A 22-12 third-quarter run and a 27-point fourth quarter were each part of the difference.

“Our second half execution was really good,” Long said. “It was good to see them happy after a game for once.”

Ty Rardin led all scorers with a career high 30 points. He shot 16-for-20 from the free throw line, making 14 of 16 shots there in the fourth quarter. Rardin also made four 3-pointers. Jack Berg added a career high 22 and Titus Hamer chipped in 10 points.

As a team, the Wolverines shot 27 of 38 from the free throw line in the game.

The Falcons were led by Ruger Berndt with 19 points, including making two 3-pointers and going 5 of 7 from the free throw line. Jaedyn Schoolcraft had 15 points on five made three pointers

The week began with a tough 64-48 loss to East Union. The Eagles beat the Wolverines for only the third time since 2006 and it snapped an 11-straight win streak by the Wolverines in the series between the schools.

Nodaway Valley shot 32% for the game and was led by Berg with 15 points. Titan Foster scored eight but had 12 rebounds.

The Wolverines fell behind by 10 after the first quarter of the Mount Ayr loss and trialed 38-22 at halftime. The Wolverines struggled to make a dent in the Raiders’ lead after the break, but Berg scored 18 — he made four 3-pointers — and Hamer canned two from downtown in scoring 12.

Panorama stunned the Wolverines in the opening quarter of that game, building a 26-13 lead. Nodaway Valley trailed 37-26 at halftime. The Wolverines trailed 54-38 going to the final quarter. The Wolverines outscored Panorama 21-10 in the final quarter but could never regain the lead. Hamer and Rardin turned in 16 points apiece while Berg scored 11. Foster grabbed 10 boards.

The Wolverines play twice this week, both at home. Lenox was in town Tuesday while Friday has Southeast Warren coming to town for the Wolverines’ senior night.