Indians complete season sweep of #1 ranked Pella Christian 68-57

The Indians swept top ranked Pella Christian in a classic match-up.

by Doug DeKock

On December 2nd, 2017, the Oskaloosa Indian basketball team pulled off a shocker in defeating #1 Pella Christian, 76-70, in overtime at Pella. As the horn sounded, the student section for Oskaloosa stormed the court to celebrate one of Oskaloosa’s biggest wins in years. The P.C. people were not amused by this and some felt it was uncalled for. The Eagles marked their calendar for the rematch and plans were made to return the favor by their student section. There was one problem though, the Indians were not going to let that happen, and defeated the Eagles 68-57 on Friday night before a packed gym in Oskaloosa. The Eagles were looking to avenge their only loss of the season as they came into the game with ten straight wins. The Indians were out to prove the December win was not a fluke.

The 1st quarter started slow as both teams were ice cold from the field. All-Stater, Levi Jungling, was hounded by Indian Tanner Dekock in the 1st quarter and only had 3 points after one quarter. P.C.’s other star, David Kacmarynski, was also held in check for the quarter. Despite their two leading scorers being held in check, the Eagles were able to lead after one quarter, 13-10, behind the inside scoring of Kenden Veenstra and Jackson Flagel. Oskaloosa was able to keep it close with scoring from Jack Moore and Jarad Kruse throughout the 1st quarter. The 2nd quarter was where Oskaloosa would make its move. The Indians outscored the Eagles 16-9 by controlling the boards and getting balanced scoring throughout the quarter. Tucker Nunnikhoven and Rian Yates would team up with DeKock to continue to hold Jungling down on the scoring end as the Indians took a 26-22 lead into halftime.

The 2nd half would start like the 2nd quarter as Oskaloosa started heating up from the field. Oskaloosa long range specialist Spencer Tucker found his range and dropped some deep 3s. Xavier Foster joined Moore and Kruse in the scoring and Oskaloosa started to take control of the game. As the 3rd quarter ended the Indians had a 10-point lead and were in control of the game. There was one problem though, P.C. has two of the best players in class 2A with Jungling and Kacmarynski and they were not going to lay down. The teams traded baskets throughout the first four minutes of the quarter and Oskaloosa maintained their 10-point lead. The Eagles would hit some big three-pointers but Osky would answer with one of their own. The Eagles pulled within 6 with about three minutes left; the Oskaloosa fans were cautiously optimistic, but knew this one was far from over. That would be as close as the Eagles would get as Oskaloosa hit three-pointers at one point on three consecutive possessions to push the lead back up to 12. The Indians continued their improvement from the free throw line and knocked down free throws to salt the game away and win by 11, 68-57.

Oskaloosa continued to exhibit a balanced attack with four players in double figures. Moore, Kruse and Tucker all scored 15 points to lead the Indians. The freshmen Foster played one of his best halves in the 2nd half and finished with 10 points, 5 blocks and 7 rebounds. Cole Henry came up big for the Indians late. After being held scoreless through three quarters, the big lefty scored a crucial 6 points in the 4th quarter. Henry also grabbed a team leading ten rebounds while Kruse pulled down seven boards. Yates, Nunnikhoven and DeKock may not have scored much this game, but the job they did defensively on Jungling cannot be overlooked. The P. C. All-Stater was held in check until late in the 4th quarter and was frustrated throughout the game.

This is the last meeting between P.C. and Oskaloosa this year. Pella Christian will be one of the favorites to win the state championship in 2A. Oskaloosa is showing that it may be a contender to get to state. As for storming the court, I am not a fan of that on visitors’ courts. I think the Oskaloosa student section was just ecstatic that we won a huge game which has not happened in years. We have a fantastic student section and appreciate all their support. As for P.C. returning the favor, that may be awhile. Oskaloosa returns seven of their top eight players, while P.C. played almost all seniors Friday night.

Oskaloosa improves to 8-4 overall and 3-4 in the Little Hawkeye Conference. Pella Christian falls to 11-2 overall and 6-2 in the conference with their only losses being to Oskaloosa. The Indians return to action Tuesday night and look for a little payback from a loss to Grinnell earlier in the year. The boys’ game will follow the girls’ game that starts at 6:15pm.

Posted by on Jan 22 2017. Filed under School Activities. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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