The Aplington-Parkersburg basketball teams split a tightly contested NICL-Central doubleheader at Denver Tuesday, as aired on 99 The Wave. The girls fell to the #7 (2A) Cyclones 55-53 and the boys won 73-60, with the winners taking first place in the standings in both games.
In the girls game, Denver found its stride early, building a 26-12 lead in the first half. AP cut the deficit to 30-22 at halftime to set up a competitive second half. The Falcons eventually led by as many as four points, but cold shooting in the final two minutes allowed the Cyclones to seal the game at the free throw line.
“That last four minute stretch until Ava Eddy’s two threes, we just couldn’t get one to go when we really needed one,” Head Coach Brady Driscol says. “Then they went on a cold stretch, but then they ended up going on the hot stretch at the end when we couldn’t get on our hot stretch. So it’s a game of runs, and they went on the last one for sure. I guess we kind of went on the last last one, but not enough to overcome that deficit.”
Each team made 19 field goals and seven free throws; the difference proved to be Denver’s 10 made three-pointers compared to AP’s eight. Quinnlyn Schultz and Peyton Klooster each led with 13 points.
In a spirited boys game, Denver raced out to a 19-16 lead after the first quarter. But a career night by junior Benny Waller set the tone for the rest of the way. He scored 26 points in the first half on his way to finishing with 39, five points shy of the single-game program record.
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The Falcons took control with 23 points in the second quarter, and the teams played relatively even basketball throughout the second half. Waller on his performance and the win.
“I kind a few threes early and got to the rim and was finishing,” Waller says. “I’m like, ‘okay, you know, this is my night.’ And all the credit is to my teammates. They knew I had the hot hand. And even though they weren’t scoring it, they knew that I was hot. And so they got me the ball and I couldn’t have done it without them really. We don’t get nervous and we don’t get anxious. We don’t really force anything. And if we force something, we’re going to come back and we’re going to talk as a team. We’re going to calm each other down. And Aaron just does such a great job of getting us calm down. And when he’s our coach and he’s calm and collected, you know that we can be too.”
“He got off to such a good start, and I think he had our first 12 points,” Head Coach Aaron Thomas says. “And they weren’t with the ball screen, they were just letting him come off. We got him a quick break, and then honestly, I didn’t realize he had that many till he hit 37, I just happened to look up and I asked our assistants if that’s right. I might have jinxed him there at the line, he missed his last couple. But he’s as good of an offensive player I’ve coached. He can shoot and score. He’s just got a knack for attacking the basket. Our guys did a good job finding him when he was open. Because sometimes, you know, if I haven’t got my shot in a while, and we’ve got a lot of guys who can score, it’s like I’ve got to try to do something. But they played within themselves and really did a good job finding him. And Benny obviously executed and made shots.”
The Falcons moved to 4-0 in the Central to maintain the division lead.
AP will return to action Friday by hosting Waterloo Columbus.
Brady Driscol interview:
Benny Waller interview:
Aaron Thomas interview:
