GHV girls top North Iowa, 54-37; fall to Forest City, 48-34

The Garner-Hayfield-Ventura girls split a pair of games last week.  The team is now in sixth place in the Top of Iowa Conference with a record of 4-6.  North Union leads the conference with a record of 9-0.

GHV 54, North Iowa 37

It was a good night for the GHV girls when they hosted North Iowa (2-7, 3-9) on Tuesday, Jan. 9.

Both teams were slow to get rolling in the first half.  The game was close, 13-11, in favor of the Cards, with just over three minutes remaining in the second quarter.  Jillian Heitland went on a seven-point run, which helped GHV to take a comfortable 27-14 lead into the break.

The Cards were able to outscore North Iowa, 15-9, in the third quarter, to stretch the lead to 42-23 heading into the fourth.  The bench took over in the fourth quarter.  The Bison outscored GHV 14-12, but it was the Cardinals that prevailed with the 54-37 win.

Turnovers were key to the Cardinal victory.  GHV forced 34 turnovers which led to 26-points.

“We took advantage of their difficulty in handling the ball,” said Coach Matt Erpelding.  “We do need to clean up some areas if we hope to play spoiler against the top teams in the conference.”

Heitland had a phenomenal game, pumping in a game high 20-points.  She also grabbed four rebounds, one assist and one steal.

Mara Anderson, Jayden Frank and Jade Hanson each had six points and Maddie Williams added five.

Hanson led the team in rebounds with six.  She also had two steals and two blocked shots.

Anderson led the team in assists and steals with four apiece.  Williams had three steals and two assists.

Forest City 48, GHV 34

A very poor start doomed the Cardinals in a road game at Forest City on Friday, Jan. 12.

“We turned the ball over 11 times in the first five minutes of the game,” said Coach Matt Erpelding.

The turnovers cost GHV 16-points and gave the Indians a huge, 24-8, lead at the end of the first quarter.

GHV picked it up in the second quarter and were much more prepared for the Indian’s pressure.  The Cardinals outscored Forest City 11-9.  The halftime score was still lopsided, 33-19, in favor of the Indians.

“I was extremely happy with how well we bounced back after the horrible start,” said Erpelding.  “We continued to battle playing solid defense for the remainder of the game.  This was the first time all season I have seen my girls continue to give max effort after experiencing a bad stretch.”

Without the horrific first quarter, the Cardinals played with Forest City.  They even outscored them again in the fourth quarter, 10-7.  The first quarter deficit was just too much to overcome, as the Indians won the game, 48-34.

Jillian Heitland led the Cardinals with 18-points.  Jade Hanson finished with seven, while Jayden Frank contributed five points.

Hanson led the team under the boards with 11 rebounds.  Heitland finished with seven and Morgan Ryerson ended with six.

Maddie Williams led the team in assists with three.

Frank and Hanson led the team in steals with four and three respectively.  Hanson also had three blocked shots.

The team will face Belmond-Klemme (0-10) on Friday, Jan. 19.  Game time is 6:15 p.m.