NM Outlasts Osky Girls
OSKALOOSA – North Mahaska overcame a six-minute scoring drought Tuesday and hit some late free throws to knock off Class 4A foe Oskaloosa, 55-50. The contest Saw No. 13 in Class 2A North Mahaska and Oskaloosa battle through 11 lead changes and seven ties before NM took the lead for good on Kayla Readshaw’s 3-pointer with 4 minutes 27 seconds to play in the game.
North Mahaska (17-4) led 8-7 after one period but did not score in the final three minutes of the first period. Oskaloosa (10-9) built a 13-8 lead over the same time frame behind six points from Kassie Johnson. North Mahaska’s Regan Grewe hit a basket at the 5-minute mark to end the dry spell. North Mahaska then took control and held the Indians to two baskets the rest of the half. Schilling scored five points and Libby Hargis added another basket to tie the low scoring game at 17-17 at intermission.
The two teams went back and forth throughout the rest of the contest. North Mahaska was able to use the charity stripe to their advantage hitting 11 of the 17 attempts. Oskaloosa hit six free throws but went to the line only seven times.
The visiting Warhawks was coming off a key Class 2A title with No. 5 Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont on Monday and NM coach L.E. Moore felt his team was somewhat fatigued after playing two hard-fought games.
“We certainly had some tired legs, but I thought our defense a key tonight,” said Moore. “We knew we had to play good defense. We hit free throws tonight, 11-of-17, I’m proud of that. We will take tomorrow off and get back at it Thursday.”
North Mahaska was led by the efforts of Schilling and Grewe. Schilling scored 23 points with seven rebounds, three assists, three blocks and two steals. Grewe finished with 20 points, seven rebounds, two steals and an assist. Sydney Andersen finished with five points, five rebounds and three steals. Readshaw was credited with four steals and two assists.
Oskaloosa was led by Dasia Foster with 23 points, nine rebounds and two assists. Johnson scored 15 points with six rebounds and Haylee Parker scored eight.
North Mahaska will be in action Tuesday for the start of the Class 2A tournament trail. They will host the winner of Pella Christian-Cardinal at 7 p.m.
