Oskaloosa Boys Basketball Opens Season With A Win On The Road
Fairfield, Iowa – The Oskaloosa Indians boys basketball team kicked off the 2017-18 season on the road in Fairfield Tuesday night.
The Indians struggled in the first quarter, going down 9-12 to the Trojans. In the second quarter, the Indians picked up the pace and outscored the Trojans 22-14 for a halftime score of 31-26.
The third quarter, the Indians continued to add to their lead, outscoring the Trojans 15-7, but Fairfield battled back in the fourth, edging the Indians in points, 19-18.
The Indians came out on top, 64-52 over a determined Trojans teams.
Indians Head Coach Ryan Parker spoke about the team and the opening night on the court. With the highly anticipated season, we asked Parker how it felt to get underway.
“I think our guys were getting tired of practice and were ready to hit the floor vs. someone else. Obviously, there were some nerves early, and it showed, but we’re excited to get this season underway and see how we can improve throughout the season,” said Parker.
When asked about the slow start, Parker said, “We really didn’t stick to the game plan in the 1st quarter or even the 1st half. We wanted to get the ball inside early and ended up settling for jumpers. Our shots weren’t falling early and we sorta dug ourselves a hole that we had to dig out of.”
The second half saw the Indians sticking more to the game plan.
When the buzzer sounded, Parker was thinking, “we need to get better,” but was excited about the win.
The plan is now to review film “and figure out why we struggled early,” added Parker.
Parker said that he knows, “everyone is going to give us their best shot, and we must be ready night in and night out.”
Oskaloosa’s Jared Kruse, a six-foot-five-inch senior lead the Indians in scoring, putting up 21 points. Sophomore Xavier Foster added 16, with junior Cole Henry adding 14.
Kruse also lead off the board, pulling down 13 rebounds, and Henry had 12 on the night.
Henry dished it out six times on the night.
The Trojans scoring was lead by senior Dante Cingire with 13 points, followed closely by junior Austin Simpson who added 12.
The Indians make their home opener on Friday night against Pella Christian. Game time is scheduled for 7:45 pm.
