GHV girls top North Iowa; fall to Forest City

By Michelle Watson

The Garner-Hayfield-Ventura girls basketball team played two totally opposite teams last week.  A winless North Iowa team didn’t prove to be much competition for the Cardinals, but a tough Forest City team ended up being more than they could handle.

GHV 78, North Iowa 45

The Cardinals were on a scoring frenzy Tuesday night, Jan. 8, as they faced a winless North Iowa. Four GHV players scored in double figures and 11 players contributed to the  78-45 score.

Morgan Ryerson owned the first quarter, hitting three, three-point shots in a row to take a 12-5 lead.  Ryerson’s hot hand continued right up to the end of the first quarter, as she made a basket and connected on a free throw for a 24-5 score at the end of the first quarter.

Maddie Williams took over the scoring in the second quarter, collecting eight-points and a couple of steals.    Chloe Frank and Ryerson both hit threes to close the first half with a 26-point lead, 42-16.

A new scoring machine stepped up in the third quarter.  Jayden Frank pumped in 12-points.  The Bison had a strong third quarter and actually outscored the Cardinals, 21-19.

The fourth quarter was once again all GHV.  The bench came in to finish off the fourth quarter and scored 10-points, six of those points by Kelsey Watson.

“Our press forced 40 turnovers and resulted in 26 steals,” said Coach Matt Frank.

Scoring in double figures was Jayden Frank with 18-points. Ryerson was right behind her with 15, followed by Williams with 12 and Chloe Frank with 10-points.  Watson ended the game with six-points, while Nicole Upmeyer and Jade Hanson had four-points.  Lorna Whelan added three and Mara Anderson, Jenna Hanson and Liz Richardson had two-points apiece.

Jayden Frank led the team under the boards with seven rebounds.  Chloe Frank grabbed six and Ryerson and Jade Hanson had four apiece.

Ryerson did a fantastic job sharing the ball, dishing out seven assists.

Chloe Frank was all over the floor, collecting five steals.  Ryerson grabbed four steals and Williams and Jade Hanson had three steals apiece.

Whelan and Vanessa Olson had one blocked shot each.

Forest City 62, GHV 51

The Cardinals were able to claw their way back into a game that started slow when they hosted Forest City (7-3, 8-6) on Friday, Jan. 11.

“A poor start plagued us again by putting us in an early 13-3 hole,” said Coach Matt Frank.

The Cardinals got to work after that debacle and pumped in nine unanswered points to get back in the game.  GHV only trailed by one-point at the end of the first quarter, 13-12.

The momentum swung once again in the Indians’ favor, as they stretched the lead to 32-18 with three minutes remaining in the half.  It was a one man show for the Cardinals, as Chloe Frank got busy and hit three, three-point shots and a free throw to close the half only trailing by four, 32-28.

Jade Hanson collected the first five points in the second half, giving the Cardinals their first lead of the game, 33-32.  Chloe Frank jumped in on the momentum and collected four free throws and a bucket to stretch the lead, 39-32.  Forest City started to chip away at the lead and tied it up, 40-40, with 1:21 left in the third quarter.  Some strong free throw shooting by the Indians gave them the lead again, 45-40.

The Indians outscored the Cardinals 17-11 in the final quarter to win the game, 62-51.

“Some empty possessions and turnovers hurt us late in the game,” said Coach Matt Frank.  “They also hit their free throws when it mattered.  We were also too careless with the ball, resulting in 21 turnovers.

Chloe Frank led the team with 21-points on just 10 shots.  She also had three rebounds, one assist, two steals and a blocked shot.

Jayden Frank and Jade Hanson both had 10-points apiece.  They also led under the boards.  Hanson collected eight rebounds and Frank had six.

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