Oskaloosa Freshmen Basketball Wins Thriller Over Indianola
by Alex DeJong
Last Friday night the Oskaloosa boys freshman team was on the road facing a really good Indianola team and it was an absolute THRILLER!
Once again we got off to a slow start getting down 2-9 right off the start but cut it within 4 going into the 2nd quarter down 12-16. The second quarter was pretty much even as both teams were making shots and capitalizing on the other teams mistakes. We went into the half down 26-31.
Out of the half we started to make more mistakes on offense, turning the ball over and giving them easy buckets. This led to Indianola going on a run taking a 15 point lead. However, the guys NEVER gave up and took it one play at a time to get it within 8 going into the 4th quarter.
The 4th quarter is where it got very interesting. The guys continued to fight back in it by playing aggressive defense and forcing turnovers. We also were getting good looks on offense and stopped forcing up bad shots. With 15 seconds to go in the game, we were down by 5 points. Heavon Knox ended up hitting a clutch 3 to bring us within 2. Indianola decided to call a timeout after that. Our plan in the timeout was to try to trap and force a turnover right away and then foul if we didn’t force a turnover. Out of the timeout, Indianola threw it in and we set up a perfect trap which forced the Indianola player to travel. So, we got the ball back with 5 seconds left in the game and Kane Boender took it all the way to the rim and hit a buzzer beater to force it to overtime!
We ended up taking our first LEAD of the game in overtime and ended up WINNING 68-64! This moves our record to 2-1 on the year. I was super proud of how our guys never gave up and continued to fight until literally the last second of the game. The guys stuck together when our backs were against the wall and found a way to win this game against a really good Indianola team. I couldn’t have been more proud of the effort they gave on Friday night. The Oskaloosa boys freshman team is back in action tomorrow night @ Washington.
Top Producers @ Indianola
Ethan Stek: 21 points
Kane Boender: 13 points
Heavon Knox: 12 points
Landon Romas & Linus Morrison both with 10 points
