GHV girls pick up an OT win over North Iowa

It was an exciting week for the Garner-Hayfield-Ventura girls, as they picked up two wins, one of them in overtime.

GHV 67, North Iowa 65 OT

It was a hard fought battle to the end, but the GHV girls managed a two-point victory on the road.  They topped North Iowa (0-1, 0-2), 67-65 in overtime on Tuesday, Dec. 1.

“This was a very sloppy game on both ends,” said Coach Matt Erpelding.  “We got off to a fairly good start and I was happy to see our effort to see the floor and make the pass ahead to open teammates.  However, I was very disappointed in our defensive effort.”

The Cardinals committed 15 fouls in the first half alone, which resulted in North Iowa shooting 25 freethrows.  Fifteen of their 32 points in the first half came from free throws.

The first quarter ended with Miranda Jackson connecting on a three-point shot to put the Cards up, 14-8.  In the second quarter, GHV was up by as much as 10 points, taking a 20-10 lead before letting North Iowa creep back in.  The Cardinals trailed by one-point at halftime, 32-31.

“Due to our poor first half defensive effort, we made some adjustments at halftime,” said Erpelding.  “We did a much better job of not fouling in the second half.”

The Cardinals went on a six-point run to start the third quarter and took the lead back, 41-34, but again the Bison came from behind to trail by one at the end of the third quarter, 42-41.  It was back-to-back scoring in the fourth quarter.  GHV connected on a couple of free throws to go up, 59-57, with :12 remaining in the game.  North Iowa put up a three-point shot, missed, but got the offensive rebound and made the shot to tie, 59-59, and send the game into overtime.

Overtime was again back-to-back scoring.  The game was tied, 65-65, with 1:13 remaining.  Payton Bamrick made one of two free throws to go up, 66-65.  Hannah Lau was fouled with :13 seconds remaining on the clock, she made her free throw to go up, 67-65, to end the game.

“I did see a lot of improvement in several individuals.  With our youth and inexperience, that is the main thing at this point in the season,” said Erpelding.

Lau and Mikaya Shropshire both hit double figures, with Lau scoring 24 points and Shropshire had 11.  Mara Anderson contributed nine points and Miranda Jackson had eight.

Lau led the team under the boards with 21 rebounds.  Anderson grabbed seven and Bamrick had four.

Anderson and Jillian Heitland led the team in steals with three apiece.  Jackson and Jenna Hanson had two blocked shots each.  Jackson and Taryn Carolus led the team in assists with four apiece.

GHV 52, Charles City 38

The Cardinals hosted Charles City (0-2) on Thursday, Dec. 3.  Despite a slow start, GHV rallied strong and picked up a 52-38 win over the Comets.

Charles City managed a three-point lead at the end of the first quarter, 14-11.  In the second quarter, the Cardinals went on a 10-point run to move ahead, 27-20, with 1:48 remaining in the first half.  GHV took a four-point lead into the half, 28-24.

The Cards came back from the half on fire, giving up only four points in the first 11 minutes of play.  They outscored the Comets, 10-4.  GHV had a 10-point lead heading into the final quarter, 38-28.  Despite back-to-back threes by Charles City at the end of the game, the Cards held on for the final 52-38 victory.

“Our offense had success tonight,” said Coach Matt Erpelding.  “They pushed the ball up the floor on makes and misses, which allowed us to get some easy looks before the defense could get set.”

Hannah Lau and Jillian Heitland led the team with 18 and 13-points respectively.  Other leaders included Mara Anderson who added six and Jade Hanson with five points.

Hanson led the team in rebounds with six.  Lau and Heitland each grabbed five.

Anderson led the team in steals with four, followed by Taryn Carolus and Miranda Jackson with three apiece.  The pair also led the team in assists with four apiece.

Forest City 58, GHV 36

Despite a good start, the GHV girls couldn’t hold it together for the win when they faced Forest City (2-0, 3-0) on Friday, Dec. 4.

“This time out we got off to probably our best offensive start of the season, but we became stagnant halfway through the first quarter and didn’t regain our offensive flow until midway through the second quarter,” said Coach Matt Erpelding.

The Cardinals jumped to an early 7-2 lead, but the Indians quickly closed that gap and went on a 15-point unanswered run to outscore GHV 20-9 in the first quarter.  GHV finished the half with a 12-3 run to cut the deficit to eight.

“Again we changed things up at halftime and started the third quarter with a solid effort,” said Erpelding.

Following Taryn Carolus’ three-point shot the Cards came to within five points, 31-26, but from there, the offensive wheels fell off.  Forest City outscored the Cardinals 29-15 in the second half for the final score of 58-36.

Hannah Lau had a good night for the Cardinals, dumping in 13-points and grabbing seven rebounds.  She also had one steal and two assists.

The rest of the team was pretty balanced, with Miranda Jackson scoring five-points, and Mara Anderson, Jade Hanson and Jillian Heitland all adding four.

Other leaders under the boards included Carolus with six rebounds and Jackson grabbed five.

Jackson led the team in assists with three.  Anderson and Mikaya Shropshire each had one blocked shot.

The team hosts Belmond-Klemme Friday night.  Game time is 6:15 p.m.