Game of Runs Leads to Osky Boys Loss
Oskaloosa Indians
by Matt Saville
Coming into the Saturday contest with Indianola the Osky boy’s basketball team knew they could play with Indianola if they took care of the basketball and played defense the entire game. Coming off the tough Friday night loss to the #3 ranked Dallas Center Grimes the Osky boys knew things had to improve, and during moments Saturday they did.
In the opening quarter Osky came out and showed that they were ready to play ball as Spencer Medlin had a strong put back off of a Ryan Reiter miss and Osky was on the board. The boys followed that with a layup and a 15 ft. jumper by Reiter, and the Osky boys were up 6-5. The one thing was that Osky was having a hard time recognizing where the shooters were, and Indianola was getting easy looks at the basket to stay in the game by knocking the shots down. Ryder Curtis hit a jumper as Osky found themselves in the ball game 12-9 after the first quarter.
The start of the second quarter found Osky coming up short of getting to loose balls and gave up too many second chance points to the Indianola Indians. This helped to spread the lead out against the Osky boys. Medlin continued to show that he can be a force on the inside, as he had a couple lay ins. Medlin, coupled with Reiter continuing to knock down shots as he drained a long 3 pointer then a long jumper just inside the line, helped to offset Osky failing to get stops on the defensive side of the ball. Max Johnson worked the clock down and with just 2 seconds left drained a huge 3 pointer to take the Indians in the locker room only down 32-23.
Osky kept the game within reach for much of the third quarter as they cut it to 7 and saw it jump back to a 14 point lead. The one consistent Indian on offense was Reiter, as he was draining shots from deep coupled with attacking inside. It helped find the Indians only down 11 at the end of the third, with a score of 49-38.
Osky started off the fourth quarter not sharp on defense, as they were allowing Indianola to drive and get easy baskets. This, coupled with not taking care of the basketball, allowed the game to get out of hand quickly, as the lead grew to 20. Medlin followed his own miss and Rieter continued to be on fire as he hit another 3, but it was too little, too late and Indianola walked away a 63-45 winner.
Leading Osky was Reiter with 28 pts. 7 rebs. , Medlin 10 pts. and 7 rebs. , Curtis 4 pts. 7 rebs. and Johnson with 3 pts. 4 rebs. Osky is back in action Tuesday night at home against Newton in Little Hawkeye Conference action.
