Tough Luck Indians Drop another heartbreaker to #7 DCG, 52-50
Oskaloosa Indians
by Doug DeKock
The Oskaloosa Indians were coming off one of their worst offensive games of the year on Tuesday night against Grinnell, with a 55-51 loss. The Indians made the journey on Friday night to Dallas Center Grimes to take on the Mustangs, hoping to get back on track offensively. Unfortunately, the Indian offense didn’t get clicking until the third quarter, suffering another last-second defeat to DCG. Oskaloosa started the game ice cold, much like the Grinnell game, trailing 15-6 after one quarter of play. DCG built up a 12-point lead, 26-14 and it looked as though Oskaloosa may get blown out in the first half. With just 14 points on the board, through the first 14 minutes of the game, the Indian offense finally came to life in the last two minutes of the first half, outscoring DCG 7-0, to pull within 5 points at the half, at 26-21. The offense continued to play well in the third quarter, as the Indians came all the way back from that 12-point deficit to take the lead, eventually leading 37-36 going into the fourth quarter. Oskaloosa fans and players had some confidence heading into the fourth against the 7th-ranked Mustangs. The Indian offense was sparked by sophomores Rian Yates and Cole Henry throughout the night and the duo continued to score in the fourth. Oskaloosa hit a 3-pointer, building their lead to 40-36 and it looked like the Indians might secure a huge road win against a ranked opponent. The 4-point lead was the biggest that Oskaloosa had, as they missed a few opportunities to extend the lead. The Mustangs battled back, with the teams trading the lead several times in the last minutes of the game. With the score tied at 50, after a Jack Moore free throw, DCG took possession with 13 seconds left. The Mustangs rushed the ball up the floor and got it into the hands of senior Brody Kleen. The Mustang senior drove to the left of the basket just outside of the lane before he was cut-off. Kleen threw up an off balance shot that kissed off the backboard and fell through the net with 3.2 seconds left. The Indians called a timeout to set up a play for a game-winning attempt. The inbounds throw was tipped out of bounds by DCG, just past half court, and Oskaloosa was still alive with 2.8 seconds left. After another Indian timeout to draw up a play, the ball was inbounded to senior Jack Moore, who took a couple of dribbles off of a ball screen. Moore launched the ball from 3-point land and the shot was just long as it hit the back of the rim. The Mustangs celebrated, while Oskaloosa was left with another heartbreaking loss. The Indians have now lost four conference games by a total of 8 points.
Henry returned to his pre-Christmas-break play and tallied a team leading 18 points. Henry was a force inside, with his spinning and twisting drives throughout the night. Fellow sophomore Rian Yates played an excellent game, also hitting three, 3-point field goals on the way to a 13-point night. Spencer Tucker hit two big 3-pointers, as part of his 8 points, while freshman Xavier Foster scored 6 points, with five blocks to go along with that. Moore rounded out the scoring with 5 points. DCG was able to hold Oskaloosa’s leading scorer Jarad Kruse to a 0-point game. The Mustangs were led by seniors Trevor Grove and Brody Kleen, with 12 and 15 points respectively. Oskaloosa now falls to 8-6 overall and 3-6 in the Little Hawkeye Conference, while DCG improves to 11-4 overall and 6-3 in the conference.
The Indians travel to Newton on Tuesday night for a tough conference game against the Cardinals. The boy’s game will follow the girls game, which starts at 6:15pm.
