Oskaloosa Boys Varsity Enjoying Best Ever Start
Oskaloosa senior Spencer Tucker drained 35 points on Saturday night against EBF.
Oskaloosa, Iowa – The Oskaloosa Boys Varsity Basketball squad returned home Saturday, after a tough road win at Dallas Center-Grimes on Friday.
Oskaloosa sits at #4 in the rankings and was on hostile turf at #9 DCG.
Sophmore Xavier Foster lead the way for the Indians in the scoring department with 17 total points on the night. He also lead in rebounds with seven total.
Junior Cole Henry and Senior Jared Kruse each had 10 points each, with Henry pulling down five boards, and Kruse 6.
Rian Yates lead the effort off the bench with 7 points and three rebounds.
Oskaloosa came out hot, outscoring DCG 20-12 in the first quarter, but cooled off in the second quarter only scoring 9 points to DCG’s 14. At the break, it was 29-26 in favor of the Indians.
The third quarter saw a stalemate between the teams, each scoring 10 points. The fourth quarter, the Oskaloosa edged DCG 17-13 for a final score of 56-49.
DCG was lead by Senior Steve Borneman with 11 points. Senior Justin Protzman was a machine, pulling in 12 rebounds on the night.
DCG’s two losses have come at the hands of the top two teams in the Little Hawkeye Conference, Norwalk and Oskaloosa.
Oskaloosa Head Coach Ryan Parker said, “Pretty proud of our guys to respond. We came out like a ball of fire and sort of cooled down a little bit.”
“We needed that one, against a top-10 team,” said Parker of the win. “I’m really proud of our guys because we’ve never done that before.”
DCG was a place Oskaloosa had never won a basketball game before. “We talk about things we mark off, our benchmarks. Winning at DCG and going 9-0 before Christmas are some of those marks the team is looking for.
The Newton game could be a tough one as well for the Indians, who haven’t pulled out the victory there in the recent past.
The Eddybylooska traveling trophy was on the line against a stout Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont team that is leading their district and have a 6-2 record.
The Indians took an early lead over the Rockets, leading 23-11 after the first quarter of play, and never looked back.
Senior Spencer Tucker was on fire, draining 35 points from all over the floor for the Indians.
Sophomore Xavier Foster added 17 points for the Indians and snapped up 12 rebounds for the double-double.
Junior Cole Henry had 11 points and 10 rebounds, for yet another double-double on the season.
The Indians will finish out the first half of the season on the road at Newton on Tuesday night. The Cardinals are 4-1 on the season.
Parker said that his team might have been a little tired to start the contest with EBF. “I think we enjoyed playing in front of our home fans. If we had played on the road, it might have been a little bit different story.”
Tucker proved to be the story of the night, draining shots from virtually anywhere on the court, including well beyond the 3-point arch. “That’s the best he’s shot the ball since I’ve been here,” said Parker. “That’s just what Spencer does. Everybody knows he can shoot it. He just had one of those nights.”
Tucker splashed in 8 3-point shots for the night, four short of the school record held by Tyler Sash.
Parker gave a shout out to the Indians crowd and student section who “really propelled us.”
During the break, the Indians look to keep their edge by hosting and attending a couple of scrimmages. Parker looks forward to the tough competition in those scrimmages to help hone his team’s skill as they look to finish out the season.
The Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont varsity girls had a decisive win over the Indians, 55-35.
No stats were available at press time.
The Oskaloosa Girls Varsity team will travel to Newton on Tuesday to take on the Cardinals.
