Young guns lead charge in senior night loss

On Tuesday, Jan. 23 it was senior night for the English Valleys basketball team when they hosted Keota. Charlie Axmear and Braydon Fisher were recognized prior to the game, but it was the younger guys who stepped up their game, despite taking a 29-59 loss.

English Valleys faced some struggles early in trying to break the full-court press, but once they got past it, gave themselves good chances at getting to the hoop. On the defensive end, E.V. was able to throw Keota out of sorts early, causing missed shots or ill-advised passes on the first few possessions. Eventually, JD Stout managed to heat up for the visiting Eagles, and dropped a dozen points to give Keota a 19-6 lead after the first quarter.

From there, Keota went to its bench and Hayden Irmen began to go to work for the Bears. He would work to free himself in the post or roll off a screen towards the hoop, getting more than a couple shots to fall along the way. The Eagles continued to score, but so did the Bears, who went into the half down 12-30.

"I wanted to see us play four quarters of competition," E.V. coach Caleb Lewis said. "Before the game I told them we’ve come a long way defensively and we wanted to show it. We did a good job for most of the possessions on defense."

The second half was more of the same, with E.V. looking for more points from their shooter with the hot hand. Irmen continued to put up shots, and they continued to fall as his point total climbed on nearly every possession. His teammates got involved on occasion as well, but the deficit still loomed large for the home team and fans.

The final quarter was all about hustle plays, which there were plenty of, just not a lot of success scoring wise. The Bears came up just shy of beating the Eagles in the fourth, posting nine points while Keota put up 10. While English Valleys wasn't about to beat the Eagles, there were still some positives, including the performances of their younger talent.

"We’ve been waiting for our freshman to get it going, they probably have some of the best shots on the team," Lewis said. "For Hayden that was excellent to see, and for Brayden it should do wonders. The last few games we’ve see our freshman hit some shots and we need points."

When it was all said and done, Irmen ended his night with 17 points, three rebounds and one block, but also had numerous plays on defense the stats didn't reflect. Nolan Grove had four points, three rebounds and one assist, while Cole Stephenson hit one of the teams two three-pointers for his only points. The two seniors combined for five assists, two points, two rebounds and two steals. Clayton Moore also had a big night on the glass, grabbing a team-high eight rebounds for the Bears.

"The kids are figuring it out, and it's showing. They're starting to break the press and get shots up and it's nice to see," Lewis said. "How far we've come from the beginning of the year to now, we can win a game. It's starting to pay off in long stretches and the kids are starting to believe."

E.V. hosted Belle Plaine on January 26, in their final home game of the season.


 

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