Indians Down Eagles Upset Hopes
Tyler Hafner lines up another 3-point shot against Pella Christian on Friday night.
by Jamie Brockman
The Oskaloosa Boys picked up where they left off a week ago with another Little Hawkeye Conference win, beating Pella Christian 67-44 Friday night. Noah Van Veldhuizen started things off with a quick, and Austin Hafner poured in four long-range bombs throughout the first half, as Osky took control early and never trailed.
Osky’s quick start was answered by a late first quarter run from Pella Christian, and the Eagles hung with the Indians in the second quarter as Osky held a 29-24 lead at halftime.
A 21-10 run by Oskaloosa in the third quarter, helped by three, three-pointers from Rian Yates, gave the Indians a 16 point advantage heading into the fourth quarter. That’s when Cole Henry took over dominating the paint offensively scoring twelve points in the closing minutes on his way to a game-high 23 points.
Henry led all scorers with 23, Hafner added 15, Yates emerged from his shooting slump to add 11, Xavier Foster scored eight, while once again being a defensive force.
Tyler Miller contributed four off the bench, and Jackson Blythe and Van Veldhuizen each added three points.
Jake Pringle’s 11 points led the Eagles, however, their leading scorers Dan Jungling, Josh Van Gorp, and Brett Roose were held to a combined 11 points.
Oskaloosa improved to 9-2 overall and 5-2 in the Little Hawkeye Conference as Pella Christian fell to 6-5 and 2-5 in LHC play.
Oskaloosa travels to the US Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids Saturday to compete in the Wells Fargo Advisors Shootout to face Class 4A Cedar Rapids Jefferson at 5:45 pm.
You can hear Saturday’s game with Jamie Brockman here on Osky News Live powered by Thunder Country KIIC with pregame coverage starting at 5:30 pm Saturday.
