GHV girls top North Iowa; fall to FC

The 2016-17 season is underway for the Garner-Hayfield-Ventura girls basketball team as they split a pair of Top of Iowa Conference games.

GHV 66, North Iowa 56

Free throws were the difference for the Garner-Hayfield-Ventura girls when they hosted North Iowa on Tuesday, Nov. 29.

“We got off to a good start, as we were able to use some ball pressure to create several turnovers and get some easy buckets,” said Coach Matt Erpelding.  “Unfortunately, after the first couple of minutes we didn’t play very well on either end of the court.”

The Cardinals jumped to an early lead 6-0 lead in the first quarter.  The Bison closed the gap to 6-4 before GHV went on a 10-point run, leading to a 16-9 half-time advantage.

North Iowa picked it up on the second quarter and both teams scored 15 apiece for a halftime score of 31-24.

The Bison kicked up their offense and pulled to within three-points in the third quarter, 40-37.  The Cardinals didn’t rollover, as they added six unanswered points to end the third quarter, 46-37.  With 4:31 remaining in the fourth, the Bison knotted the score, 50-50. Hannah Lau sunk two free throws and the team collected some key steals and from there the Cards started to roll.  Between Lau, Jillian Heitland and Maddie Williams, the threesome collected enough points for a 66-56 victory in the final minutes of play.

Lau, Heitland and Williams all hit double figures, with Lau and Heitland each collecting 18 points and Williams adding 11.  Makaya Shropshire and Jade Hanson each had seven points.

Lau dominated under the basket, hauling in 14 rebounds.  Hanson pulled down 10 and Heitland and Sadie Oulman had six and five respectively.

Lau also led the team in steals with six.  Shropshire collected five and Heitland grabbed three.

“Our saving grace in this game was at the free throw line.  We were 24/37, while they were only 8/23,” said Erpelding.

Forest City 49, GHV 34

The Cardinals had a tough time on the road Friday night at Forest City (2-0, 2-1).

It was a tale of two quarters in the first half, with GHV dominating in the first and Forest City in the second.  Behind the hot hand of Hannah Lau, who collected nine-points, the Cards led 15-8 at the end of the first quarter.  The tide turned in the second quarter when the Indians went on a 13-point run, including three three-point shots to take the lead, 21-15. By halftime, GHV still trailed by six, 26-20.

“We started the game with the best execution we have had all year.  Unfortunately, that didn’t last as we struggled offensively the remainder of the game,” said Coach Matt Erpelding.

Forest City slowly kept adding to their lead in the second half, outscoring the Cards 16-10 in the third quarter and 7-4 in the fourth quarter for the final 49-34 victory.

Lau led the team with 13 points, followed by Jade Hanson, who scored all of her seven points from the free throw line.  Both Jillian Heitland and Makaya Shropshire had six-points apiece.

Lau grabbed seven rebounds to lead the team, while Hanson had six and Heitland, Mara Anderson and Sadie Oulman each hauled in five.

Shropshire led the team in steals with four.  Hanson, Williams and Anderson had two apiece.  Lau had two blocked shots and Hanson had two.

“It was frustrating to get off to such a nice start and then lose our mental focus and let the game get away from us.  We need to bounce back with much better performances,” said Erpelding.

The team travels to Belmond on Friday, Dec. 9.  Game time is 6:15 p.m.