Earlham ends Wolverines’ regional run

EARLHAM — No. 15-ranked Earlham held off Nodaway Valley Friday night for the second time this season, 56-47, to advance to the Class 2A Region 3 finals.

The Cardinals (18-6) face No. 1-ranked Hinton (19-1) on Wednesday for a trip to the state tournament. Hinton defeated MVAOCOU (Mapleton), 68-36, in the other Region 3 semifinal Friday.

The injury bug hampered Nodaway Valley (20-3) in both losses to Earlham this season. In a 58-47 loss to Earlham on Jan. 31, it was the end of a three-game week for the Wolverines and one night after a hard-fought 58-52 win over Pride of Iowa Conference rival Martensdale-St. Marys. That week, NV senior Emma Boswell, the state’s all-time leading rebounder, suffered a separated shoulder and was not playing at 100% physically.

In Friday’s regional game, all-time Nodaway Valley career scoring leader Izzy Eisbach was slowed by a sprained ankle suffered three days earlier in the win over Grand View Christian. She was in a walking boot on Wednesday and underwent therapy with trainers from Peak Performance, which is contracted with Nodaway Valley schools.

Despite playing gingerly on a tightly-taped left ankle, Eisbach managed to score a game-high 30 points Friday in a valiant performance.

“She was maybe at about 70 percent,” head coach Brian Eisbach said. “If it was a regular season game, she wouldn’t have played tonight. We didn’t take care of the ball. If Izzy is at full strength, I think it makes it harder on them. It also affected who we had guarding who tonight. Give Earlham credit, they’re a very good team.”

Nodaway Valley had 19 turnovers in the game to just nine by the Cardinals.

Two seniors led the Cardinals Friday. Darby Moore made four 3-pointers in scoring 22 points. Avrie Fagan, who surpassed 1,000 career points Friday, added 12 points.

For Nodaway Valley, freshman Abby Nelson tallied seven points with eight rebounds. Kacie Ford had five points and Emma Boswell finished with four points and 10 rebounds.

Earlham coach Jordan Gentry said his team played good defense and held their own on the boards, limiting second-chance opportunities for the Wolverines.

“We just wanted to make it super tough on Izzy, ” Gentry said. “If you don’t make it super tough on her, she’s going to go for 40 or 50 on you.”

Gentry said the Cardinals showed good ball movement in opening up shot opportunities for Moore and Fagan. Moore had eight points at halftime as Earlham held a 28-25 lead. It was Moore again striking from distance to open a four-point lead (45-41) midway through the fourth quarter.

Nodaway Valley had turnovers on five of the next seven possessions, and Mackenzie Harger’s free throw gave Earlham a 48-41 cushion with 1:50 to play.

Ford’s 3-pointer with 45 seconds left cut it to 48-44. Eisbach nearly completed a steal in the Earlham backcourt that could have led to a layup, but she was whistled for her fourth foul on the play. So, instead of a two-point game it became a six-point spread as Moore sank both free throws.

Nodaway Valley’s 3-point shot was blocked, and Moore drained two more charity shots to make it 52-44. With 17 seconds left, Eisbach provided some hope for the Wolverines with a 3-pointer.

With Nodaway Valley fouling to get extra possessions, Moore hit another free throw to make it 53-47 with 13 seconds left. Boswell fouled out on the next Cardinal possession.

Fagan hit the final free throws for Earlham as time ran out on the Wolverines’ stellar season. A season split with Pride of Iowa co-champion Mount Ayr (both 15-1 in POI) and the two games with Earlham were Nodaway Valley’s only losses.

In reflecting on the season after Friday’s loss, coach Eisbach said he enjoyed watching the team come together in the first year of former Orient-Macksburg players Emma Boswell, Ella Boswell and Mattison Thompson joining the program. Emma Boswell averaged 14.2 points and 13.6 rebounds in her only season as a Wolverine after three season with Orient-Macksburg.

“The most rewarding thing about coaching this year was how we came together,” Eisbach said. “We had three groups of kids this year. We had the Orient kids, we had a pretty big freshman class, and then we had our returning players. Our message when we got together in the summer was to get connected. It was neat to watch them blend together. I’m proud of them.”

Seniors concluding their Wolverine careers Friday were Eisbach, Emma Boswell, Ford, Kynnady Van Eaton, Lea Stonebraker and Caroline Britten.

Two record-breaking careers ended Friday for Eisbach and Boswell. Eisbach finished with 2,270 career points, placing her 10th on Iowa’s all-time five-player scoring list and Nodaway Valley’s career leader. She also had 623 rebounds, 383 assists, 432 steals and 104 blocks in 93 careeer games. She made 270 3-pointers, shooting 31.7% from the arc. Her free throw percentage was 78.8%.

Eisbach is the program’s all-time leader in points scored, steals and assists, and ranks fifth in rebounds and blocks. She averaged 24.4 points in her career, including 31.9 her junior and senior seasons. She also averaged 6.7 rebounds, 4.09 assists and 4.6 steals per game in her career.

Emma Boswell’s career at Orient-Macksburg and Nodaway Valley included 1,456 points, 1,616 rebounds (state leader), 167 assists, 216 steals and 260 blocks. Boswell topped Lexi Shike’s single-season school record of 307 rebounds with 309 rebounds, and her 137 offensive rebounds topped Shike’s 119 from the 2020-21 season.

In a Class 2A Region 6 semifinal, Treynor defeated Southwest Valley, 46-28. Hailey Randall scored 12 points for Southwest Valley (16-7). Treynor (20-2) faces Pleasantville (12-11) in the regional final Tuesday at West Central Valley High School in Stuart.

In Class 3A Region 6, Mediapolis advanced to the state tournament with a 49-42 win over Prairie City-Monroe Saturday night.

EARLHAM (56) — Totals — (FG FT PTS) 18 14-18 56. Darby Moore 6 6-8 22, Avrie Fagan 2 6-6 12, Piper Koberg 4 0-0 8, Shilyn Terrell 3 1-2 7, Kenna Harskamp 3 0-0 6, Mackenzie Harger 0 1-2 1. FG shooting — 18-48 (37.5 percent). 3-point goals — 6-22 (Moore 4, Fagan 2). Steals — 10 (Harger 5, Harskamp 2). Rebounds — 34 (Terrell 5). Assists — 8 (Harger 2, Harskamp 2, Fagan 2). Turnovers — 9. Team fouls — 13. Fouled out — none.

NODAWAY VALLEY (47) — Totals — (FG FT PTS) 17 9-13 47. Izzy Eisbach 12 3-3 30, Abby Nelson 2 3-4 7, Kacie Ford 1 2-2 5, Emma Boswell 2 0-2 4, Sofie Rardin 0 1-2 1. FG shooting — 17-40 (42.5 percent). 3-point goals — 4-9 (Eisbach 3, Ford 1). Rebounds — 31 (Emma Boswell 10, Nelson 8, Ford 6, Eisbach 4, Ella Boswell 3). Assists — 10 (Emma Boswell 4, Ella Boswell 3). Steals — 5 (Eisbach 3). Blocked shots — 5 (Nelson 2). Turnovers — 19. Team fouls — 14. Fouled out — Boswell.