The Aplington-Parkersburg basketball teams earned a sweep at Dike-New Hartford Friday, as aired on 99 The Wave. The Falcons won the girls game 38-32 and the boys game 58-53.
In the girls game, the Wolverines had the upper hand early, leading 12-7 after the first quarter. But the Falcons held their opponent to just three points in the second quarter to jump in front 19-15 at halftime. In a defensive battle that featured several momentum-killing turnovers, the Falcons snuck out with their first win in Dike since the opening of the current gymnasium.
“Whether it’s 2-0 or 100-98, as long as we’re the higher number, we’ll take it, especially at this point in the year, playing people for the second time around, you know that they’ll have you better scouted and they’ll have improved,” AP coach Brady Driscol says. “And you’d hope that we’d improve too. Some offensive rebounds that we gave up and probably a couple of second chance points or we got the defensive rebound and just didn’t clear it and they hung around, kind of pressed a little bit and then got some baskets that way. But with Quinnlyn not feeling well at all, had to give her extended breaks. She wasn’t herself quite tonight, but gave us what she could. Tough kid, and luckily team wise, we came away with the win.”
Kolbie Wangsness led the Falcons with 14 points and Payton Foster led the Wolverines with 15.
The boys game proved to be intense. AP jumped out to a strong start and led 20-7 in the first quarter. But consecutive buckets at the end of the quarter gave the Wolverines life, and the teams played relatively even basketball until halftime. DNH fought back and held a two-point lead at times in the second half, but went cold in the final minutes of the fourth. AP made some clutch shots down the stretch and sealed the win at the free throw line. Head Coach Aaron Thomas says it was a complete team effort.
“Coming over here, they’ve had some close games, but you know it’s going to be up in the rivalry game,” Thomas says. “And for us, we’re still trying to adapt with losing Mason Ridder, because it really adjusts what we do. And I’m just super proud of the way our guys step up. Gavin Bernard played a great first quarter. Jackson Mulder does great. Gavin Allan comes in, he plays. And then Evan Palmer not feeling real well, Trevan Thomas had a really good second half defensively for us. And Caleb Campbell getting in foul trouble. Sully Janssen just showed his toughness. I think he missed his first four free throws and then made big ones for us late down the stretch. And Tyler Wedeking with the big, big three. Huge team win for us, and everybody contributed.”
Benny Waller led the Falcons with 23 points and Tyler Wedeking added 13. On the night he was recognized for joining the 1,000-point club, Colin Meester led the Wolverines with 28 points and Carson Costello added 15.
AP will return to action Tuesday at Jesup on 99 The Wave. DNH will host Hudson Tuesday.
Brady Driscol interview:
Aaron Thomas interview:
Alex Tagtow interview:
