GHV girls fall to Eagles; top the Broncos

(Above) GHV’s Jillian Heitland brings the ball down the floor during Tuesday night’s game.  Heitland  ended the night with 15-points.  -Reporter photo by Chris Barragy

The Garner-Hayfield-Ventura girls split a pair of TIC conference games last week.  The win and the loss moved the Cardinal’s record to 5-7, 7-10.

West Hancock 69, GHV 53

West Hancock proved Tuesday night, Jan. 16, why they are at the top team in the TIC West Division with a 10-1, 13-1 record.

The Eagles opened strong, jumping to an early 21-13 first quarter lead.

“We found ourselves down 12-2 four minutes into the game.  After that we played pretty much even with them,” said Coach Matt Erpelding.  “I need to do a better job of getting my girls to understand the importance of coming into games mentally prepared to execute on both ends of the floor.”

Mid-way through the second quarter, Jade Hanson went on a run of her own, collecting six unanswered points and closing the gap to 27-19.  That was as close as the game would get.  The Eagles ended the first half with a seven-point run and took a 38-20 lead into the break.

The second half was better for the Cardinals.  The Eagles only outscored them by three-points in the third quarter and GHV took control of the fourth quarter, outscoring West Hancock, 19-14.  In the end, it was the Eagles that rolled, with a 69-53 victory.

A highlight of the game was three girls reaching double figures for the Cardinals.  Hanson led the way with 18-points, followed closely by Jillian Heitland with 15 and Jayden Frank with 11-points.  Sadie Oulman added five and Morgan Ryerson and Mara Anderson had two-points apiece.

Besides her work on offense, Hanson also  recorded six rebounds and two steals.

Frank led the team under the boards with nine rebounds.  She also had one steal, one assist and one blocked shot. Ryerson also had a good night under the boards, collecting seven rebounds to go with her four assists, two steals and three blocked shots.  Anderson led the team in steals with four.  She also had three assists.

“This was the first time in years that I have seen my team play with a championship level of toughness, heart and desire to compete,” said Erpelding.

GHV 79, Belmond-Klemme 52

The GHV girls had a solid night on Friday, Jan. 19, when they hosted Belmond-Klemme (0-12, 1-14) in a Top of Iowa West showdown.

Jillian Heitland set the tone early with a three-point shot that led the way to a 24-15 first quarter lead.

A nine-point unanswered run in the second quarter led to a large 49-27 lead heading into the break.

The Broncos made some adjustments at the half and picked up their game, outscoring the Cardinals, 12-10, in the third quarter.  But the first half deficit was too much as GHV rolled to a 79-42 victory.

“It was good to see us continue to play with great intensity for the third game in a row.  Hopefully, we have learned what it takes to be successful at the high school level,” said Coach Matt Erpelding.

The team focused on teamwork in this game, with a total of 21 assists and 12 players contributing to the score.  Heitland led the charge with 19-points.  Jayden Frank and Jade Hanson both ended the night with 12-points.  Maddie Williams added eight and Jenna Hanson had six.

Kelsey Watson had a strong game under the boards with eight rebounds.  Nicole Upmeyer was right in there with six boards.  Heitland and Hanson both had four rebounds.

Williams led the team in steals with four.  Heitland and Hanson had three steals apiece.

“Giving up good shots to get our teammates a better shot results in teammates that like to work together.  It also makes it harder to defend us,” said Erpelding.

The team travels to Lake Mills (5-6, 6-9) on Friday, Jan. 26.  Game time is 6:15 p.m.