GHV boys clinch Top of Iowa West Conference title

The Garner-Hayfield-Ventura boys have been perfect all season in the Top of Iowa Conference West Division and Thursday night they clinched the TIC West title with a win over West Hancock.  The Cardinals’ record is 14-0 in the TIC Conference West; they are 18-1 overall.

GHV 80, Eagle Grove 32

The Cardinals traveled to Eagle Grove on Tuesday, Jan. 31, where they dominated the Eagles (2-10, 3-13) in a 80-32 trounce.

GHV jumped to an early lead and never looked back, rolling to an impressive 42-16 first half lead.

“In the second quarter we started forcing more turnovers and tougher shots and put the game out of reach with a bunch of shots in the paint,” said Coach Joe Albertson.

Behind the hot hands of Nick Joynt and Ryan Meyers, who each collected seven points in the third quarter, GHV held the Eagles to just three points, while they collected another 23 to go up, 65-19.   

The bench was cleared in the fourth quarter.  The Cards outscored Eagle Grove, 15-13, in the final period for the win, 80-32.

Four players scored in double digits for GHV.  Meyers led the way with 16 points, followed closely by James Betz with 14, Nick Joynt finished with 13 and Johnny O’Connor scored 11 points.  Connor Burke was two-for-four from the three-point line.

Meyers also led the team under the boards with 10 rebounds.  Betz pulled down five, while Holden Hutcheson grabbed four.

Hutcheson and Burke led the team in assists with seven and six respectively.

Hutcheson also led the team in steals with four.  O’Connor and Chase Theobald both had three steals.

Betz led the team in blocked shots with five.  Meyers blocked two shots.

“We have been fortunate to have great play from the starters and the bench this entire season,” said Albertson.

GHV 65, West Hancock 46

The Cardinals found themselves in a position they are not accustomed to Thursday night, Feb. 2, when they traveled to Britt to take on West Hancock (10-4, 13-5).

“We have not had a lot of success the past three seasons in Britt,” said Coach Joe Albertson.  “We have struggled to shoot the ball, and we have run into very talented West Hancock teams.  We didn’t come out on fire to start the game, and West Hancock did.”

West Hancock opened strong with back-to-back three point shots followed by another to take an early lead, 9-2.  The Cards answered that with six unanswered points to get to within one, 8-9, before the Eagles connected on two more three-point shots, 15-10.  Holden Hutcheson sunk a three and James Betz hit a two-point shot to bring the score to within two.

“Chase Theobald and Connor Burke turned the momentum into our favor.  They forced a few turnovers and scored in transition,” said Albertson.

A couple of three point shots in the second quarter got the Cardinals a lead, 25-21.  The Eagles sunk a three of their own to end the first half trailing by one, 26-25.

The Eagles opened the second half with a three-point shot, but GHV answered that by pumping in 10 unanswered points, seven of which were credited to Johnny O’Connor, to take the biggest lead of