Lady Indian’s Lose Two Over Weekend

Oskaloosa Indians

by Matt Saville

Oskaloosa, Iowa – The season has been a frustrating one for the Oskaloosa Indians Girls team and it continued, here at home, over the weekend. They dropped two games, one on Friday night against Pella, 60-34, in Little Hawkeye Conference action and then on Saturday afternoon against the Washington Demons, 57-45, in non-conference action.

Friday night the gym was packed. The student section was loud and the band was booming. The other thing that was in attendance was the big headache for the Indians this season of taking care of the basketball and being able to get consistant stops on defense. Pella forced Osky into 5 turnovers on their first five possessions, and that set the tone for the game as the Lady Dutch jumped out to a 7-0 lead. Senior Taylor Richardson finally drilled a long 3 to get the Indians on the board 7-3. Pella continued to force Osky into miscues, which  resulted in easy baskets for the Dutch, although Richardson had two coast-to-coast baskets, junior Nicole Strasser hit a shot, and sophomore Leah VanMaanen hit a layup. The quarter ended with the Indians down 21-11.

Both teams started off the second quarter cold, as they went almost 4 minutes without a basket. Sophomore Alexis Westercamp got the Indians going by following up her own miss and Richardson drilled another long three. Unfortunately, Pella was starting to flex their muscles and controlling the boards, as they went into the locker room with a 31-18 lead at halftime.

The third quarter was the straw that broke the camel’s back. The Dutch defense fueled a huge run with the offense going to town and outscoring the Indians 19-6, blowing the game wide open 50-24. Turnovers and inconsistent play, on both sides of the ball, troubled the Lady Indians during the night, as they went down in defeat 60-34.

Leading the way for the Indians were Richardson with 13 points and Westercamp with 12 points.

Saturday brought the Washington Demons to town in a non-conference action. Despite getting down big in the first quarter the Indians battled back, only to fall to the Demons 57-45. Sophomore Alexis Westercamp had a day she won’t soon forget. She torched the nets for 29 points and 12 rebounds, followed by senior Taylor Richardson with 7 points, 2 rebs., and 3 assists.

Oskaloosa is now 2-9 on the season and is in action again on Tuesday as they travel to Knoxville .