No. 8 North Mahaska Upends EV
NORTH ENGLISH – English Valleys tired of seeing Layla Hargis hitting shots inside in the first 10 minutes of its game with North Mahaska Tuesday. In the next two minutes they tired of Kaitlyn VanDonselaar ringing in 3-pointers. The end result was a 65-25 victory by the eighth-ranked Warhawks.
NM senior Hargis, the team’s leading scorer, hit for 11 points in the first quarter as North Mahaska jumped out to a 15-0 lead before sophomore Kennedy Axmear dropped in a free throw for the Bears’ first point. With North Mahaska (8-1) leading 22-6 VanDonselaar hit three treys in just over a minute and a half for a 33-5 lead. English Valleys (7-1) was never able to get back into the contest.
“Their press was very effective,” said EV coach Jeff Miller. “Our minds were working faster than out bodies and we turned the ball over.
“We didn’t have an answer underneath the basket. They are ranked for a reason, but I would rather play someone like this in order to see what we need to work on. That is what I told the girls in the locker room. They are a good ball team and well coached.”
North Mahaska’s mantra is to get out fast in the first quarter and third quarters. Hargis did that to open the game and VanDonselaar, who finished with 18 points, did that in the third period hitting three treys in the first two minutes to give the Warhawks a 30-point advantage, 44-14.
“I just got in a groove and the shots fell,” said VanDonselaar. “We work a lot on going inside and outside. I think once the game started, I was able to get myself open better.”
Hargis finished the game with 19 points and nine rebounds. Breckyn Schilling finished with 11 points, five assists and two steals. Addie Schilling and Regan Grewe each chipped in six. Schilling had six assists, three steals and blocked a shot.
Senior Mia Ayers led English Valleys with nine points. Senior Kaeley Axmear finished with seven points and seven rebounds.
North Mahaska forced EV into 23 turnovers and recorded 20 steals. Each team hit 11 free throws. North Mahaska shot 44 percent from the floor, but the defense limited English Valleys to 15 percent shooting.
“We played hard and with the right mindset tonight,” said NM coach L.E. Moore. “Kaitlyn is deadly when she’s on. I thought we distributed the ball well tonight.”
VanDonselaar agreed.
“We don’t really care who scores or rebounds we just want to win. We have the goal of winning the conference and making the state tournament. We work at it and share the ball.”
Both teams are finished with the pre-Christmas season English Valleys returns to action Tuesday, Jan. 4 when they travel to BGM. North Mahaska will host Iowa Valley on Jan. 4.
