Sigourney Boys Secure Conference Victory Over HLV

SIGOURNEY—On February 2, the Sigourney Savages boys’ basketball team hosted the HLV Warriors for a conference matchup. 

Junior Solon Yates came out the gates red hot tallying five points in the first two minutes of the game. The Savages stormed out to an 18-10 lead then extended it to 31-19 at half.

The Savages implemented a 1-2-2 press throughout the first half that gave the Warriors trouble and led to easy baskets for Sigourney. Sigourney Head Coach Mitch Eslick spoke on the ideology of implementing the zone press with, “We started in man because they have good shooters, but we needed to speed things up a bit. They wanted to slow things down and muddy things up with their zone. We wanted to try to see if we could get out in transition and get some easy baskets. We had a couple, but not as many as we would've liked. I think our press was effective again tonight, I just feel we have to find a way to be more efficient on the offensive side because we have a tough schedule coming up. The defense has carried us these past couple nights, so we have to be better on the offensive side.”

The second half was sluggish for both sides offensively, as only 29 points were scored by both teams. (15 from the Savages and 14 from the Warriors)

Sophomore Solon Yates led the scoring for the Savages with 14 points. Junior Isaac Bruns tallied 13 points of his own. Bruns also added eight rebounds, two assists, three steals and a block. 

Fresham Ike Moylneux was the main facilitator once again with five assists, while sophomore John Berg was the main paint presence with 11 rebounds.

Sigourney Head Coach Mitch Eslick spoke on what he wants his team to focus on heading into a tough stretch of games against Belle Plaine, Centerville and Keota as, “We have to play better. I told them if we play like we did these last two nights, there is not another win on the schedule. That is just the reality. That is not trying to motivate, that is the truth. If we do not play better, we will not win. I think we will play better. It is not just one thing. It is not effort, the kids are playing hard. It is some execution stuff, reading a defense or finding some gaps. There are just some things we can do better on the offensive end. Once we have some time for practice, we can clean these things up. We will continue to work and try to get better.”

The Savages push to 12-5 on the season with a conference record of 9-6. They sit solidly in third place of the SICL-East conference standings behind Belle Plaine (11-4) and Keota (15-0). They will return to action on February 5, when they visit the Centerville Big Reds.