The Aplington-Parkersburg girls and boys basketball teams will look to keep the momentum of three-game win streaks rolling as they open NICL-Central action with a doubleheader at Columbus Catholic on Tuesday.
The A-P girls (3-1) won over Sumner-Fredricksburg, Oelwein and Webster City last week. The Falcons, during the win streak, have held opponents to 42 points or less, aided by 20.8 steals per game and have increased scoring to 59 points or more.
Falcon Head Coach Brady Driscol on playing up-tempo.
“They anticipate pretty well. We run a couple different presses, then in the half court, it’s kind of fast paced. We try to get up and make them rush a little bit, make them hurry, usually that gets some deflections and tips. We try to get tips and deflections as much as we can to either throw them off or get us out and running,” says Driscol. “That’s probably the best basketball, I think, that you can play is fast, up paced, get a lot of kids in, and keep things moving along. That’s a fun brand of basketball. The girls really do well at it, they’ve done well at it for a few years now. Now it’s a veteran group out there, with three seniors out there for a lot of it and then a lot of juniors behind them. They’re used to the system a little bit and they know what they’re doing and they’re doing a good job with it.”
Three Falcons have provided an offensive boost with double figure scoring, as Kolbie Wangsness and Peyton Klooster are averaging 12 points per game and Quinnlyn Schultz is averaging 10 points per game.
The Columbus girls (0-2) lost to Gladbrook-Reinbeck and East Marshall in opening week. Macy O’Brien is the Sailors’ top scorer and rebounder averaging nine points and nine rebounds per game.
Driscol on playing on the road against Sailors.
“We’ve struggled there in the past. Last year, we had a lead and about blew it at the end there. They had a shot at the buzzer, almost an and one, to go ahead and win or overtime one of those two. It’ll be a tough challenge. It will really be a testament to our shooting too if we can shoot well there because we haven’t shot well there in the past.”
The A-P boys (3-0) won over Sumner-Fredricksburg, Oelwein and Webster City last week for an undefeated start. The Falcons have soared defensively behind 17 steals per game. Benny Waller and Caleb Campbell are the Falcons top two scorers with 16 points and 15 points per game, respectively.
The Columbus boys (1-0) held on to win 67-65 over East Marshall in their season opener on Friday. Amani Robinson led the Sailors in the opener with 26 points at 58.8% from the field and 14 rebounds.
Coverage on 99 The Wave will begin at 6:05 p.m. followed by the opening tip at 6:15 p.m. in Waterloo.
