Cardinal girls move record to 3-4

  The Garner-Hayfield-Ventura girls moved their record to 3-4 with one win and two losses last week.

West Hancock 67, GHV 22

A disastrous start doomed the GHV girls and they suffered a loss to West Hancock (3-0, 4-0) on Tuesday, Dec. 5.

“We struggled breaking their full court pressure, which resulted in some easy baskets for them and rushed shots on our end,” said Coach Matt Erpelding.  “I felt our defensive effort was very poor as well.”

The struggles were felt early, as the Eagles jumped to a 27-5 first quarter lead.  West Hancock held the Cardinals to just 14 first half points, while they collected 51.  The second half wasn’t much better, as the Eagles rolled to a 67-22 victory.

“We need to develop more of a fighter mentality as a team.  When things don’t go well for us early we tend to roll over and throw up the white flag.  We have to learn to compete for 32 minutes and give 100 percent effort until the final buzzer no matter what the circumstances are,” said Erpelding.

Jade Hanson finished with eight points, two rebounds and two blocked shots.

Jillian Heitland had six points and two rebounds.

GHV 72, Belmond-Klemme 34

The GHV girls capitalized on some key mistakes and were able to defeat Belmond-Klemme, 72-34, on Friday, Dec. 8 at home.

“Their post player got into foul trouble in the first half and we were able to take advantage of their ball handling struggles and get some easy baskets in transition,” said Coach Matt Erpelding.

The Cardinals had balanced scoring in the first quarter and garnered a 17-9 lead.

Jayden Frank had the hot hand in the second quarter, sinking three three-pointers.  The Cards led, 41-23, heading into the half.

The bench got a lot of minutes in the second half and racked up 31 more points on the way to the final 72-34 victory.

“This group could be really good if they make the commitment to do things the right way.  It is obviously my job to find a way to get that out of them.  I was able to get the bench a lot of minutes, which will be beneficial down the road.”

Twelve players scored in Friday night’s game.  Four players scored in double figures.  Jillian Heitland led the way with 14-points, followed closely by Frank with 13.  Jade Hanson and Vanessa Olson each finished with 10-points.  Olson was a perfect 2/2 from the three-point line and Frank was 3/4.

Mara Anderson and Frank led the team in rebounds with eight apiece.  Heitland and Sadie Oulman had five each.

Frank led the team in assists with four, while Heitland, Macey Spilman and Anderson had three each.

Anderson and Heitland led the team in steals with three apiece.  Jade Hanson had two blocked shots.

Grand View Christian 47, GHV 45

The Cardinals came out on the bottom of a very tight game on Saturday, Dec. 9, when they faced Grand View Christian (2-5) in a game played at NIACC.

GHV came out ready to play, as they went on an early 10-point run in the first quarter.  The Cards outscored the Thunder 14-6.

The tide turned in the second quarter, with GVC sinking a couple of threes to knot the score, 20-20, heading into the half.

“We played a very sloppy second quarter, which allowed them to tie the game.  We had numerous unforced turnovers in transition and did a very poor job executing our offense,” said Coach Matt Erpelding.

The Cardinals readjusted at halftime and came back and again outscored the Thunder, 14-6, to regain the lead, 34-26.

GHV let the lead evaporate, as the Thunder sunk five three-point shots to go up, 46-41.  Jillian Heitland sunk a two-point shot and connected on a free-throw to pull to within two points, 46-44.  Maddie Williams then connected on a free throw to come to within one-point, 46-45.  A defensive foul sent GVC to the line where they connected on one of two free throws, 47-45.  GHV made some substitutions and Sadie Oulman managed a steal, but a three-pointer tossed up by Heitland at the buzzer missed its mark, giving the Thunder the win.

“To their credit, Grandview shot the ball very well in the fourth quarter,” said Erpelding.

Heitland led the team with 11 points, seven rebounds, four assists and one steal.

William and Jade Hanson each had seven points and Mara Anderson scored six points.  Morgan Ryerson and Jayden Frank each had five points and Oulman contributed four.

Anderson led the team in rebounds with eight.  Ryerson and Frank each hauled in four.

Frank led the team in steals with three, while Anderson grabbed two.  Ryerson had one blocked shot.