Keota boys go 4-0 in busy week

KEOTA - Little rest presented little problems for the Keota boys basketball team last week. 

The Eagles played in four games last week with four wins, but none was bigger than their 10-point win on Tuesday night over North Mahaska.

“This was our fourth game in five days and to come out and put up 71 points against that team is pretty good,” said Dan Stout, the head coach for the Keota boys basketball team. “We will take that anytime. We knew coming in that North Mahaska was going to want to shoot the ball well, but we just started off shooting a bit better.”

The Eagles were able to out shoot the Warhawks in the start which helped spark an eventual 71-61 victory. 

North Mahaska tried to come out and shoot the ball as often as they could in the first few minutes, but none of the shots seemed to fall. 

Keota wasn’t able to have much more luck as they only made one of their first four shots. After a couple more shots fell the Eagles were able to fly out to an early 10-0 lead as North Mahaska was forced to play catch-up for the rest of the game. 

Letting the North Mahaska team get close and play catchup was something the Eagles weren’t about to let happen. The Eagles did just enough to hold onto a one point lead after the first quarter.

By halftime the lead grew to four points, and stayed at four points entering the final quarter. 

In the fourth Keota finally unlocked the secret to besting a North Mahaska team that had only been beaten once before Tuesday night.  

“We made some nice adjustments to the 1-3-1 zone that they were playing,” Stout said. “We were able to get guys to the open area and we had guys where they needed to be. Once they were able to get the passes down and make a few easy shots that just made everything go more smooth.”

For Keota the secret to breaking the 1-3-1 zone of North Mahaska was to swing the ball from player to player around the arch, and then when the key opened up hit a player with a pass inside the key for an easy shot. 

Mix in a few three pointers to keep the Warhawk defense honest, and the scoring opened up.

“Once we were able to get the passes to break the zone that was the key to getting the win,” Stout said. “We knew we had the height advantage and we knew we had guards that can pass the ball and shoot the ball really well too. We just made all the right plays tonight.”

North Mahaska had one more run early in the fourth quarter as they got within two points of Keota, but that was as close as the Warhawks would get. Keota shot the ball well in the final frame. 

They scored 25 points in the fourth to help them gain the 10-point victory. A victory that not only looks impressive on the resume (North Mahaska was ranked No. 10 in class 1A), but is also important for the SICL standings. 

“We were a game behind them in the conference standings, so we knew that we needed to have this win in order to win the conference,” Stout said. “We can relax and work on some things over the next few games.”

Chase Haifley led the scoring with 27 points on Tuesday night. Billie Kindred added another 25 points in the win. 

Jace Chalupa and Brennan McGuire both scored eight points each. Jackson Vittetoe finished with three points. 

On Jan. 13 the Eagles won 66-50 over BGM. They never trailed in that game. 

Kindred led the scoring effort with 33 points. Chase Haifley and Jace Chalupa both scored nine points each. Brody Greiner added four points. Ayden Galindo scored six points. 

Another three points were scored by Vittetoe. McGuire scored two points. 

The Eagles would host Moulton-Udell on Jan. 16 and they won that game 78-27. 

Kindred scored 25 points in the win. Chalupa and Vittetoe scored 10 points each. Chase Hailfley and Ayden Galindo both scored eight points. Isaac Stiegel finished with seven points. 

Brody Greiner added four points. Landyn Greiner and Porter Cave scored three points each. 

On Jan 18 the Eagles bested Moravia 77-56 on the road., 

After leading by 11 after the first quarter the Eagles scored 43 points in the second and third quarter to lead 71-40 going into the final frame. 

No scoring stats were reported at the time of publication. 

Keota stands at 13-2 overall on the season.