The West Fork girls and boys basketball teams dethroned the undefeated Newman Catholic Knights with a hard fought doubleheader sweep in Top of Iowa Conference East play on Friday. The Warhawk girls won 42-38 and the boys won 83-74, as aired on 104.9 KLMJ.
In the girls game, Newman inched out to a 28-15 lead at halftime, as the Warhawks had a cold shooting first half. The Knights led 36-23 through an even third quarter. The Warhawks kicked things into gear on both ends of the floor in the fourth with clutch shooting and on-ball pressure, mounting the comeback with a 15-2 scoring run to tie the game at 38-38 with just under four minutes to go. The Warhawks took the lead at 40-38 on a Leah Weaver floater with just over a minute left, and sealed the four point win on a pair of Tarah Ruckdashel free throws in the closing seconds.
Head Coach Rodney Huber on the fourth quarter rally and competitive spirit of the team.
“We were able to put the press back on a little bit, speed them up and made them work. I think we took their legs away from them ultimately at the end. They did have some open looks. That’s kind of the way this style is, is that you might get beat early, but late in the game you’re hoping that the legs go and the shots stop falling, and that’s what happened tonight,” says Huber. “It’s not always going to be pretty every night. Sometimes you’ve got to figure out ways to get stops if the ball’s not going in the hoop. I think the belief and the competitive spirit that our team shows is unique. That’s how you know you’ve kind of developed a good program is that kids pretty much refuse to lose and I think we have that.”
Nehir Kanat was the only Warhawk in double figures with 10 points followed by Leah Weaver who had nine points.
In the boys game, West Fork held the early advantage at 26-20 after the first quarter behind 17 points by Nolan Schreckengost. Newman rallied by outsourcing the Warhawks 19-8 in the second quarter to take a 39-34 lead into the break. In a tight third quarter the Warhawks took the slim lead back at 54-53 heading to the fourth. The Warhawks outscored Newman 29-21 in the quarter to get some breathing room and put their fourth straight win over the Knights away. The Warhawks offense rained threes in the win knocking down 13 triples.
Head Coach Abe Maske on defense transitioning to offense in win over the Knights.
“The biggest key coming in was we talked about, let’s play our game. Let’s get back to just doing what we do best. That’s just working together, moving the ball, talking on defense,” says Maske. “Our defense is going to lead to our offense. If we’re talking on defense, we’re hustling, we’re being aggressive and physical at the defensive end, we’re going to be much more active on the offensive end. We did the things we need to on defense that transitioned to the offensive side for us. We knew if we got this win, we’d go into the weekend feeling pretty good. I think we put ourselves in pretty good position for next week.”
Nolan Schreckengost led with a career-high 31 points and nine triples, Ashyr Wiseman had 19 points and Xavier Baptiste had 15 to lead the Warhawks.
The West Fork girls (5-1, 2-0 TIC-East) and the West Fork boys (2-1, 1-1 TIC-East) will both be at Central Springs on Tuesday.
Rodney Huber Postgame Interview
Nolan Schreckengost Postgame Interview
Abe Maske Postgame Interview
