Osky Boys Serve Class 3A Notice

Senior Jared Kruse lead all scoring with 27 points and 11 rebounds against Norwalk.

Senior Jared Kruse led all scoring, with 27 points and 11 rebounds against Norwalk.

Oskaloosa, Iowa – The date was circled on the calendar for over a month, and Oskaloosa fans filled the high school gym to capacity. They were there to see their #4 ranked Indians take on the #1 Norwalk Warriors.

What the fans got was a statement from the Indians that they were for real, and that the rest of class 3A needed to take notice.

The Indians went into the game 9-0 on the season, while Norwalk was 8-0. Norwalk is leading the state in points per game.

When the game started, the Indians rocketed to a 9-0 lead over the Warriors, stunning the visitors.

The Warriors battled back, taking a slim one-point lead, but that quickly faded and the Indians were up 18-11 after the first quarter of play.

The Indians played most of the first half without their other big man, Xavier Foster, who took a seat after collecting two quick fouls. It didn’t matter, as the Indians put their foot on the gas and led Norwalk into the half 39-21.

The second half saw the return of Foster, who ended up with 15 points, seven total rebounds and eight blocked shots.

From the bench, junior Rian Yates stepped up and poured in 20 points, nailing 6 of 7 from 3-point land.

Senior Jared Kruse lead all scoring with 27 points and 11 rebounds. Junior Cole Henry had 9 points and seven rebounds. Senior Spencer Tucker added 8 points, but dished up seven assists. Senior Tanner DeKock performed his role on defense, being the recipient of a few charges from the Warriors. DeKock also added 6 points to the effort.

The Warriors found themselves saved by the continuous clock, as the Indians celebrated their challenger’s rout.

For the Warriors, senior Luke Vaske put up 24 points on the scoreboard, followed by ten more points from senior Blake Johnson.

Junior Tyler Endres pulled down eight rebounds for the Warriors, who went to 8-1 on the season, while the Indians moved to 10-0.

The Oskaloosa student section has drawn attention from media statewide as one of the best in the state.

The Oskaloosa student section has drawn attention from media statewide as one of the best in the state.

Oskaloosa Boys Basketball Head Coach Ryan Parker said that he expected the win, but even he was surprised by the final score.

“Our guys are pretty confident with themselves right now,” added Parker.

The Indians took advantage of Christmas break to scrimmage some 4A schools and learned from those lessons from the scrimmages. “When you’re playing some of these teams and winning by a lot, at times you get complacent. You don’t know what you need to get better on and it was a real eye-opener. It was really good for us,” said Parker.

With Xavier’s early foul trouble Parker looked to his bench, and Yates answered. “We’ve got so many weapons; it really doesn’t affect us too bad. Yeah, he [Xavier] erases so much stuff at the rim, but we can bring Rian or Tucker Nunnikhoven in and not lose a whole lot.”

Oskaloosa travels to Pella on Tuesday night, a place that has been traditionally tough for the Indians to win. The Dutch are 6-3 on the season, with losses coming from Fairfield, Norwalk and Newton.

“I want to thank our great fans,” said Parker. “They packed this place. We really fed off that. Our student section was awesome. I appreciate everyone coming out to support, really, an unbelievable group of men.

Posted by on Jan 6 2018. Filed under Local News, School Activities. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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