The Indianola boys basketball team defeated Southeast Polk in their season opener Tuesday night 75-71, while the #10 in class 4A Indians girls fell to the #8 in class 5A Rams 54-45 in a doubleheader heard live on 94.3 KNIA.
The Indians boys had a back and forth affair, with Indianola earning double-digit leads multiple times in the contest only to see the Rams come back and get the game close, as the Indians built a 26-16 advantage in the second quarter before the Rams went on a 19-7 run to lead 35-33 at the half. The Indians then dominated much of the third quarter, leading 60-48 late but the Rams again went on a run and only trailed 60-54 going into the fourth. Indianola held the lead for the rest of the game, but wasn’t able to pull away fully until they made their free-throws late to seal the win. Senior forward Brady Blake tells KNIA News the Indians had some mistakes and turnovers in the game, but they were at their best when they played with chemistry and inside-out.
“I think we need to continue that. We know it, the more we work the ball around and get it inside the paint and kick it outside for three’s, because we have a lot of good shooters on this team. So I think if we continue to do that we’ll be really good.”
Blake led Indianola with 23 points, while Drew Kingery had 20.
The Indians girls played tough with the Rams for the first quarter, only faltering at the end of the quarter to trail 19-12, then was outscored 13-5 in the second quarter to fall behind big at the half 32-18. After a back and forth third, the Indians mounted a comeback in the fourth quarter to get the lead down to eight after it was as high as 18, but fell short. Emily Naughton led the Indians with 16 points, while Brynn Bishop had 10.
The boys are now 1-0, the girls 1-1, and both teams host Newton on Friday.
The Indianola boys swimming team defeated Newton in their season opener Tuesday at the Indianola YMCA 111-57. Individuals winning included:
Ethan Russel – 200 Freestyle
Reed Robbins – 200 Individual Medley, 500 Freestyle
Nathan Pollard – 100 Butterfly, 100 Breaststroke
Billy Shepherd – 100 Freestyle
Henry Picard – 100 Backstroke
The Indians also won the 200 Medley Relay, 200 Freestyle Relay, and 400 Freestyle Relay. Full results are below.