Oskaloosa 8th Grade Basketball Team Win’s USSSA State

Pictured from L-R Front Row: Reece Sarver, Walker Newman, Tyler Miller
Second Row:  Colton Butler, Iszac Schultz, Noah Van Veldhuizen
Third Row: Xavier Foster

Des Moines- The Oskaloosa eighth-grade boys basketball team finished the season in Des Moines at the USSSA State Basketball Championships. The first game of pool play was against the Iowa Wolves team from Ames and the Indians came out on top with a score of 59-31. The second pool game was against West Des Moines Valley and the boys took a commanding first half lead of 41-19 and to finish with a big win 66-37.

The Championship bracket was set and the Indians would be a 4th seed facing 5th seed Dowling. The Indians were focused and jumped out scoring big with a 36-18 half time lead. The Indians dominated the second half with great defense and only allowed Dowling 13 points in the second half winning with a final score of 58-31. The final four consisted of Oskaloosa, Urbandale Spurs, Winterset Shockers, and the Iowa Wolves. The Indians would face #1 seed Spurs and needed everyone hitting baskets to knock off the Spurs and advance to championship game. At halftime the Indians led 26-22 and needed a strong second half. The Indians battled and came out with a win of 52-40 over the Spurs to advance to the championship game.

The Indians faced the Iowa Wolves in the championship game as they battled from a #6 seed to beat the #3 seed Pella Dutch and knock off #2 seed Winterset. The Indians left it all on the court for the championship game leading at halftime 33-15 and with a winning score of 56-43 and brought home the gold rings. The boys finish the overall year with a 35-8 school & AAU record for 2016.

For the last 3 years this team had an impressive AAU and school career with an overall record of 113 wins and 25 losses. The team is coached by Travis Miller, Brandon Schultz, and Scott Van Veldhuizen.