Indianola Girls Dominate in Victory, Boys Miss Buzzer Beater in Loss
The Indianola basketball squads split a doubleheader with Council Bluffs Abraham Lincoln, the girls winning big 67-50 and the boys falling just short on the final shot 55-53 in a doubleheader heard live on 94.3 KNIA.
The Indians girls blew the doors off from start to finish in their win against the Lynx of Council Bluffs Abraham Lincoln, building up to a 27-6 lead at the end of the first quarter and continuing to pour it on in the second quarter scoring another 22 points to lead 49-17 at the halftime break. Indianola hit seven three-point shots in the first 16 minutes and went 8/12 from the free throw line building the first half lead, while holding the Lynx to just seven made field goals. The Lynx battled back in the second half to get the lead below 20, but couldn’t make any further dents. Indians head coach Jeff Janssen tells KNIA Sports the first half was perhaps the best he has seen the Indians play as he now enters his third year at the helm.
“I feel like our tempo in transition, we were getting deflections defensively in the first half, they were selling out for the game plan, we were taking away what the AL was going to try to do, and the running out and making the extra pass was so impressive this game, and I’m so proud of how we started this game. We’ve gotten off to slow starts each of the last three, so real happy with how we started tonight.”
Lauren Blake and Kendall Clatt each scored 17 points to lead the squad, while Emma Kluver scored 11.
The Indians boys nearly finished an improbable comeback against Abraham Lincoln, trailing nearly the entire game and missing a buzzer-beater three point bucket that would have given them the win. Both teams played stellar defense throughout, but the Indians struggled to make shots leading to a 28-19 halftime deficit, and could barely cut into the lead through the third, trailing 41-34 into the final eight minutes. Multiple defensive stops lead to easy points for the Indians, who found themselves down three with less than a minute to go. Caden Rehmeier hit a three to tie the score at 53 apiece, but the Lynx scored a layup with 1.6 second remaining to take the lead, and a full-court pass leading to a Cooper Nailor prayer went just slightly off the mark. Drew Kingery scored 17, while Rehmeier scored 16.
The Indians girls improve to 3-1 on a three-game winning streak, and the boys are now 1-2, with both teams taking several days off before a matchup at Pella Christian on Friday.
Indianola Wrestling Sees Several Top Finishers in Home Tournament
The Indianola wrestling team hosted a tournament in the Blake Fieldhouse Saturday, with Ballard, Centerville, Fort Dodge, and North Polk attending. The Indians saw top finished from Jaylin Smith and Cael Crawford at 220lbs and heavyweight respectively, with 2nd place results from Bowen Downey at 106lbs, Cael Meyer at 113lbs, Cael Meacham at 120lbs, Malachi Thomsen at 126lbs, Ryder Downey at 132lbs, Camden Lloyd at 145lbs, Clayton Gibson at 152lbs, Sean Cunningham at 170lbs, and Walker Whalen at 195lbs. The Indians will next hit the mats on Thursday hosting Dallas Center-Grimes.