#2-Ranked Little Dutch Escapes Indians; Upsets Bid 55-54
The Indians fought hard against Pella, coming up 1 point short in the contest.
by Doug DeKock
“What comes around, goes around,” is what the Oskaloosa Indians basketball team is hoping for the last half of the season. Oskaloosa has been painfully close, losing back to back Little Hawkeye games by 1 point. The Indians have been knocking on the door to respectability but just haven’t quite broken through. The match-up between the 2 top offenses in 3A didn’t materialize into a scoring shootout. Instead, it became a hard-fought defensive battle as evidenced by the low score of 55-54. The 1st quarter started with a bang as both teams were able to score early. Unfortunately, a couple problems hindering the Indians in almost every game showed up again – foul trouble and poor free throw shooting. The refs had quick whistles early in the game and it worked against Oskaloosa. Jack Moore picked up 3 fouls and Jarad Kruse 2 fouls early for Oskaloosa. Despite 2 of the Indian offensive leaders being out, Oskaloosa was only down 14-12 after 1 quarter. The 2nd quarter saw the Little Dutch start to extend their lead but Oskaloosa still battled with their 2 scorers on the bench, to trail 28-21 at the half. Both teams struggled to find any offensive rhythm because so many fouls were being called both ways. Oskaloosa came out in the 2nd half with a sense of urgency and Moore and Kruse back on the floor. The duo made an immediate impact as Oskaloosa was able to close the gap and even take the lead at 32-31. Pella answered back with a 3-point play and held a slim 36-35 lead after 3 quarters. Moore picked up his 4th foul midway through the 3rd and would not return until the 6:00 minute mark of the 4th quarter. Pella had built a 5-point lead 46-41 and Coach Parker had to bring Moore in before the game got away. The move paid off as Moore immediately dropped a couple of buckets and the Indians were closing the gap. The offenses both woke up in the 4th, with each team scoring 19 points in the quarter. The game stayed within 1 point until Donavan Holterhaus knocked down 2 free throws to put Pella up 55-52 with 13 seconds left. Oskaloosa would set up a last second 3-point attempt that was off, only to be put back in, but that wasn’t enough, as the Indians fell short 55-54.
In spite of playing only half the game due to foul trouble, Moore led the Indians in scoring with 14 points. Cole Henry collected another double double with 10 points and 10 rebounds, while Kruse playing, with foul trouble, also scored 11 points and had 6 rebounds. Ryan Van Wyk, despite injuring an ankle, scored 25 to lead the Dutch. Nick Finney and Holterhaus scored 13 and 11, respectively.
It is evident that the Indians can play with anyone. They just need to clean up some mistakes, and also, a few breaks their way would help. The team has been able to compete in spite of 2 starters in foul trouble almost every game. The Indians also appear to have as good a bench as anyone in the conference. Once Oskaloosa can break through, look out! Turning a program that was a doormat in the state into one of the top teams in the state is a process. Let’s hope we are getting to the end of the process. One-point losses hurt, but you know how close you now are. Oskaloosa drops to 6-4 overall and 1-4 in the Little Hawkeye Conference while Pella improves to 8-1 overall and 4-1 in conference play. The Indians visit Indianola Friday night for a Little Hawkeye game starting at 7:30 PM.
