Last night was the first doubleheader of the Oskaloosa basketball season on the Mahaska Zone Network, and there were two very different results for the Indian teams.
The girls team got the action started, and faced a Fairfield team that is ranked #5 in the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union rankings to start the season. They showed why, using their athleticism in the full-court press to force 33 Oskaloosa turnovers, including 26 steals that led to easy baskets, en route to a school record in a 103-43 victory. The 103 points is an all-time best in 5-on-5 basketball for the Trojan girls.
Oskaloosa was led by junior Alexis Westercamp, who had 14 points and 6 rebounds, although she was battling foul trouble throughout the game.
Fairfield had three players in double figures, led by sophomore Nicole Buch with 21 and junior Sami Fritz with 20. Oskaloosa is 0-2 to start the season.
In the boys’ game, Oskaloosa started very sluggish with a young and inexperienced group, trailing 17-11 after the first quarter. But in the second quarter, sophomore point guard Spencer Tucker caught fire, pouring in 12 points in the first half to help the Indians take a 31-24 lead into the locker room.
The second half was up and down, but Oskaloosa was able to make free throws down the stretch and hold off a late Fairfield rally to get a 58-54 victory in their first game of the season.
Four Indians were in double figures, led by Tucker who finished with 16. Wade Votroubek scored 13 for the Indians down low. Jack Moore finished strong with 12 after scoring only 2 points in the first half, plagued with foul trouble. Tanner DeKock finished with 10 for Osky.
The Indian defense held Jordan Reid to only 7 points, and zero after the first quarter. Reid was the leading scorer for the Trojans last season and put up 22 points against Osky last season in the opener. Freshman Austin Simpson led the way for Fairfield, scoring 20 points and grabbing 9 rebounds in his debut.
Oskaloosa is back in action Friday against Knoxville, in a game you can hear on 99.5 FM and AM 740 KMZN, the KMZN mobile app, and radiokmzn.com. Coverage starts with the Brown’s Shoe Fit Basketball Countdown at 5:30 PM Friday evening.
In other boys’ scores from last night, Moravia beat Tri-County 61-53, Keota fell to Lone Tree 68-63, Pella Christian took out West Marshall 71-36, and Twin Cedars got a win over Southeast Warren 68-44.
Girls basketball scores from around the state are not available at this time.
