GHV girls fall to West Hancock; beat B-K

(Above) GHV’s Jillian Heitland is golden from behind the three-point arc.  Heitland connected on two against West Hancock and four against Belmond-Klemme.  -Reporter photo by Chris Barragy

The Garner-Hayfield-Ventura girls basketball team split a pair of games last week to two Top of Iowa Conference opponents.  The Cardinals now have a record of 2-2, 3-3.

West Hancock 73, GHV 50

Heading into Tuesday night’s game, the plan for the GHV girls was to hold West Hancock’s top two scorers to less than 25 combined points.  The Cardinals managed that goal, but unfortunately the Eagles’ supporting cast was ready to play, as West Hancock (2-1, 4-1), topped the Cardinals, 73-50.

“We held their leading scorer to eight points, 22 below her average, and their second leading scorer to 13, two below her average,” said Coach Matt Erpelding.  “Unfortunately, the other girls who had been 2/38 from the three-point line knocked down six shots from behind the arc, which proved to be too much.”

The Eagle defense was tough in the first minutes of the game, as they held GHV scoreless for the first six minutes. Hannah Lau and Jillian Heitland hit back-to-back threes to take a first quarter lead, 12-8.

Behind four three-point shots in the second quarter, the Eagles took a 29-21 lead into the half.

More hot shooting by West Hancock ensued in the third quarter, as they outscored GHV 26-11 for a third quarter lead of 55-32.

Heitland hit two-three point shots in the fourth quarter, but the Eagles connected on four  on their way to the final 73-50 victory.

“Our offensive efficiency continues to be horrendous, as we turned the ball over 28 times and only shot 36 percent from the field.  We simply have to do a much better job with our shot selection and finishing shots right around the rim,” said Erpelding.

Hannah Lau had a stellar game for the Cards, collecting 21-points, five rebounds, three assists, three steals and three blocked shots.

Other scoring leaders included Jillian Heitland with nine, all made from the three-point arc, and Maddie Williams had eight.

Heitland led the team in rebounds with 10, while Mara Anderson grabbed four and Jade Hanson and Makaya Shropshire had three apiece.

Hanson had three steals and Nicole Upmeyer grabbed two.

GHV 49, B-K 45

The Cardinals put together some big leads during the Friday night game against Belmond-Klemme, but in the end, it came down to just four points, as GHV hung on for a 49-45 victory.

The Cards got off to a quick start and jumped to an 11-0 lead.  By the end of the first quarter they had a 13-4 lead.

“We struggled offensively the rest of the half, but were able to maintain the lead at halftime,” said Coach Matt Erpelding.

At halftime, GHV led the Broncos, 25-14.

The Cardinals made some adjustments at halftime and came out strong in the second half.  GHV pulled ahead, 41-21.  Unfortunately, the wheels fell off for a while and the Broncos took advantage and rallied to tie it, 41-41.

Some key free throws down the stretch and a couple of big stops defensively helped the Cardinals pull off the 49-45 win.

“We had a few girls battling illness, so we had to have a few other girls step up and contribute,” said Erpelding.  “Makaya (Shropshire), Carlee (Frayne) and Nicole (Upmeyer) came in and give us much needed quality minutes off the bench.”

Three players reached double figures for the Cardinals.  Jillian Heitland connected on four of seven three-point shots to lead the team with 16-points.  Maddie Williams had 13-points, while Hannah Lau had 11.

Lau did an awesome job under the boards, hauling in 15 rebounds.  Sadie Oulman and Jade Hanson had four-points apiece.

Lau led the team in steals with seven and assists with four.  She also had three blocked shots.

Heitland and Williams each had three steals and Oulman and Hanson had two steals each.

The girls face Lake Mills on Friday night.  Game time is at 6:15 p.m.