English Valleys can’t get past pesky IMS

For the second game in a row, the Iowa Mennonite girls’ basketball team managed to move on in postseason play by a single point. They played spoiler to the Lady Eagles on a last second possession, and then followed that up by doing the same thing to the Lady Bears in North English on February 13.

    English Valleys had some struggles early but figured things out as the game commenced. While their offense wasn’t finding much success, the defense was keeping the IMS possessions limited, and contesting most of them. IMS was held to seven points, while the EV offense put up 12 to go into the second quarter.

    Both teams saw a little more production on the scoreboard in the second, as EV was able to push its lead up with a 15-point quarter. IMS still hung around with a dozen points themselves, which led to a 27-17 lead for the Lady Bears heading into the half.

    Third quarter play wasn’t pretty, as EV managed to score just a handful of points, but still held onto a small lead as IMS halved the deficit behind a 10-point quarter. This set things up for a tense fourth, which would end up going down to the wire in a high-scoring final few minutes.

    The main goal for the Lady Bears was to get the ball into the hands of their playmakers, Madison Trimpe and Audrey Grove, and let them go to work in the paint. For most of the game, they’d been the biggest factors in keeping EV ahead, and continued to attack in the fourth. The Lady Bears held onto a slim lead late, but free throws were not falling in their favor, as IMS was getting to the line more often.

    When the final whistle blew the score read 47-48, after a hectic 34 points combined from both teams in the fourth, it came down to just a single point.

    “We did everything pretty well. We outscored them from the field and outperformed them in almost every statistical category,” Lady Bears coach Becky Becker said. “We shot three free throws and they shot 12, which is frustrating, especially since so much of our game is based on interior play.”

    Trimpe had a big night, finishing with 21 points while shooting 10 of 11 from the field to go along with eight rebounds. In her final game, even though her team didn’t advance, Grove went out on top. She stuffed the stat sheet with 16 points, seven rebounds, five assists, five steals and four blocks in what’s sure to be a game she won’t forget for a long time. Aly Warwick finished off her night with eight points, making all three shot attempts, including two threes. Maleah Ackerman put together a solid night, despite scoring only two points. Ackerman contributed with six rebounds, three assists and two steals.

    “It’s hard to talk to the kids and tell them they did everything right, except draw more contact apparently,” Becker said. “This was obviously not how we wanted to end it, we wanted another shot at North Mahaska. I told the seniors thank you for all the years. I’ve coached them since 7th grade and it has been not only a joy but an honor to watch them grow up.”

    The Lady Bears finished off their season 13-10, including win five of their last seven games.