The North Butler girls and boys basketball teams will conclude opening week action with a trip to Newman Catholic for a Top of Iowa Conference East doubleheader on Friday. The Bearcat girls will look for their first win in the series since 2018 and the boys will look for their first win over the Knights since 2017.
The North Butler girls (1-0, 1-0 TIC-East) won 60-51 over Northwood-Kensett in their season opener at home on Tuesday. Zoey Thompson in first varsity was locked in on both ends of the floor scoring 26 points on 45% from the field and pulling down 11 rebounds. Jady Thorne provided a threat from beyond the arc for the Bearcats with four triples in the win.
Head Coach Jordan Nolz on the Knights style of play and the Bearcats team chemistry early on this season.
“Newman has been traditionally a smaller, quick team. The Kruckenberg girl is obviously back, so there’s some really talented girls in this conference,” says Nolz. “We really see a great team chemistry out of these girls. A lot of them have worked together in other sports or around each other a lot during the day. That’s been a pretty easy part to build the chemistry. We see them pushing each other every day at practice, finding new people to push each other with, and they really do get after it.”
The Newman Catholic girls (2-0, 1-0 in TIC-East) enters off a big conference road win 64-45 over Osage on Tuesday. Sami Kruckenberg and Tess Weiner are the Knights top scorers averaging 20 points and 18.5 points per game respectively. The Knights have also benefited from averaging 20.5 steals per game.
The North Butler boys (0-1, 0-1 TIC-East) lost 57-48 to Northwood-Kensett in their season opener at home on Tuesday. Ryan Austin led the team with nine points and six rebounds, followed by Tucker Pecha and Kamdon Boos with seven points apiece. The Bearcats will look to bounce back from committing 27 turnovers against the Vikings.
“We’ve seen a good mix of shooting from the outside as well as some strong post play. We have a lot of guys that can mix it up and do several different things for us. We’re pretty deep I’d say and we got a lot of guys competing for time,” says Guerrero. “What that time might look like, the best thing about it is they all understand that they’re going to have a role. It might look different from person to person but within that role they’re going to buy into it and do it to the best of their ability.”
The Newman Catholic boys (2-0, 1-0 TIC-East) won 67-54 in their conference opener at Osage on Tuesday. Westley Cole leads averaging 21 points per game and is aided by Colin Bleile with 13.5 points per game. The Knights are balanced offensively averaging 20 assists per game.
Coverage on 104.9 KLMJ begins at 6:05 p.m. followed by the opening tip at 6:15 p.m. in Mason City.
