Oskaloosa Boys Basketball Says Don’t Count Them Out
Xavier Foster was a dominant force defensively hauling in about every rebound that came off the rim on both sides, blocking shots and added 13 points. (photo by Tasha janssen)
by Jamie Brockman
Listen to the broadcast and post-game interviews HERE
After two straight losses heading into the holiday break anyone who doubted the power, belief, dedication, and talent of this team and their abilities got their answer and more Friday night, as Oskaloosa returned from the break on fire winning at Indianola 63-53, putting themselves back in the running to repeat as LHC Champs.
Coming in, fans knew this game was extra important in the conference race, especially for Osky, and knew the game featured three Division 1 recruits, in Henry and Gauger, who have both signed with UNI, and Foster.
In my opinion, this is the best and most aggressive I’ve seen Oskaloosa look this season on both ends of the floor. There were struggles at times; however, clearly, things are coming together nicely out of the break. The “High Flyin’, Electrifying Indians” were back in this one.
Oskaloosa erupted as Austin Hafner fed Xavier Foster for an alley-oop dunk that electrified the capacity gymnasium, just seconds into the game, and the Indians never looked back rolling out to a 22-8 lead after one quarter. What was perhaps most exciting tho, was every point came in the paint utilizing Foster and Cole Henry. Henry continued his dominance, working against Evan Gauger and winning every time, on his way to a career-high 43 points, 29 of which came in the first half, helping Osky to a 39-25 lead. Indianola made some runs in the second half and closed the gap to seven points in the fourth quarter, but that’s the closest they’d get, as Osky sent a statement to any nonbelievers.
Afterward, Henry credited his teammates, saying the only reason he scored 43 was that they were doing their jobs handling the ball and kept feeding him all night making it easy for him. Head Coach Ryan Parker said the holiday break was great for them, allowing more practice time in the gym for players to learn their roles, and went on to say when you have 7’1 and 6’10 on your team we need to get them the ball and tonight we did that.
Osky was led by Henry’s 43, while his future Panther teammate, Gauger, was also impressive scoring 35 for Indianola. Xavier Foster was a dominant force defensively hauling in about every rebound that came off the rim on both sides, blocking shots and added 13 points, Noah Van Veldhuizen added three while Austin Hafner and Rian Yates each scored two.
Although Henry and Foster handled the scoring, everyone contributed defensively including holding Indianola’s second-leading scorer Quinn Vesey to just five points. Quinn averages 20 points per game for Indianola.
Oskaloosa improved to 8-2 overall (4-2 LHC) while Indianola dropped to 7-2 (4-2 LHC). Oskaloosa is off until next Friday when they host Pella Christian.
