Bruns and Molyneux Lead Savages Past Bears

NORTH ENGLISH—On January 26, the English Valleys Bears hosted the Sigourney Savages for a SICL matchup. The Savages secured the 61-25 victory over the Bears.

It was a tough start for each team's offense, as after a quarter of play the game was tied at five points apiece.

The Savages then bolted out to a 24-13 halftime lead. The Savages then stormed away with the game in the third quarter. They dropped 30 offensive points, a season high production for a quarter, and held the Bears to only four total points.

Sigourney Head Coach Mitch Eslick spoke on the big third quarter from his team with, “I thought we came out flat. You don’t want to make excuses, but it was tough with all these cancellations. They did a really good job sagging in the paint, and challenging us to make shots from the outside, which we did not. I think that stuff can start to snowball. You miss a shot and start to think too much. You just have to play with confidence. I thought we got back to that in the third quarter. We play with more confidence. We got out and ran a little bit. Once you see the ball go through the hoop, it can snowball the other way. Overall, it was a good third quarter, and a good response to what was a poor first half.” 

The Savages cruised in the fourth quarter en route to the 61-25 victory.

Sigourney junior Isaac Bruns filled out the state sheet, as she finished his night with 15 points, 11 rebounds, five assists, six steals and two blocks.

Bruns spoke on the big night with, “We started off the night by not making many threes, so we tried to attack the floor more and get out in transition a little more.” 

Freshman Ike Molyneux has solidified himself as the point guard for the Savages for the years to come. He finished his night with a team high 17 points, seven rebounds, five assists and three steals.

Molyneux described his performance with, “Shots weren’t falling at first, so we decided at halftime we have to push the ball out in transition and get easy buckets. That is what we did in that second  half.”

Coach Eslick spoke on what Molyneux means to this team with, “Ike Molyneux has impressed me so much this year. He plays like a junior or senior as a freshman with his ability to stay controlled and poised. We have been very impressed with the fact that we asked a freshman to step up into the point guard position.”

Throughout all the madness of the cancellations, Sigourney junior Isaac Bruns knew they had to stay focused at the task at hand. “We want to goof off and have fun, but there are times you have to focus up. I knew we had to look sharp coming back out after not having some games.”

Molyneux shared a similar sentiment with, “I agree with Bruns, especially when we start getting into these bigger games late in the season that got rescheduled. We are going to have to stay locked in.”

The Savages push to 8-5 with a conference record of 5-5. They quickly return to action on January 27, when they visit the Tri-County Trojans for a make-up game.

The Bears fall to 1-16 on the season with a conference record of 1-12. They will return to action on January 30, when they visit the Tri-County Trojans.