Around the RVC: Wilton gets big home win to start 2017

By Ryan Stonebraker
Sports Editor, Tipton Conservative

  WILTON — The Wilton Beavers picked up a big home victory over West Liberty to start 2017 last Tuesday. The Beavers outscored the Comets 23-10 in the first half and 28-7 in the second half to take a 51-17, River Valley Conference game. The Beavers beat the Comets 57-19 in their season opener on the road, back in November.
  Emily Lange scored 15 points and had 7 rebounds and 6 steals while Kortney Drake scored 11 points, grabbed 5 rebounds and had 3 steals and 3 assists.
  In the boy’s game, Wilton lost by one-point, 52-51 after a last second shot to win the game missed. The Beavers led 16-12 after the first quarter but trailed 28-26 at halftime. The Beavers outscored West Liberty 13-7 in the third quarter, but the Comets rallied in the final quarter to pull out the win.
Seth Feldman led West Liberty with 16 points while Matt Paustian and Jake Fratzke each had 12 points to lead Wilton in scoring.

Bears Down Wildcats In Durant
  DURANT — A jumbled mess. That was what the RVC South standings looked like last week prior to the start of the second half of the season. Four teams, Durant, West Branch, Tipton and Iowa City Regina all were within striking distance of each other with many important games last week. One of those games was in Durant where West Branch traveled to Durant in search of their second win in a row. There, they got it, beating Durant 71-58 to get their fourth road RVC South victory in five tries. The Bears improved to 6-4 with the win, while Durant fell to .500 (4-4).
  The Bears shot 55-percent from the floor in the game and made more free throws (15) than Durant attempted (11). Those two factors were enough to help the Bears get the big win. Cooper Kablea had a big game. Kabela came into the basketball game the leading scorer in the RVC South and in all of class 2A for points scored. He is second in all classes in points scored. After a slow start that saw him have just two points in the first quarter, Kabela scored 7 or more points in each of the remaining three quarters. He had 18 of his game high 27 points in the second half including going a perfect 8-for-8 from the free throw line. Beau Cornwell added 18 points, 11 in the second half, to the Bears offensive efforts. Those two were part of four Bears that scored in double figures. Ben Thompson scored 12 and Tanner Lukavsky 10.
  West Branch clung to a two-point, 15-13 lead after the first quarter. The Bears extended their lead to eight at halftime, 31-23. Each team’s offense scored 19 points in the third quarter. West Branch took a 10-point lead with seven minutes left in the quarter and led by as many as 12 points before settling for an 8-point lead heading to the final quarter. The Bears took a double digit lead - 57-47 - with 6:00 left to play and would not trail the rest of the game by fewer than 10 points.
  Eight Wildcats scored in the game. Luke Whitlock scored 15 and Mason Compton 11 to lead Durant in scoring. Jake Conley came off the bench to score 9 points.
  In the girl’s game, West Branch played a consistent game to get a 58-37 win. The Bears beat the Wildcats 53-44 in late November. The Bears win was there second in three games. West Branch improved to 7-4 with the win. The Bears led after each quarter in the basketball game and scored 11 or more points in each quarter. The 58 points is the third highest point total in a game this season for West Branch. The previous two were also against RVC South schools in road wins - 65 at West Liberty and 59 at Wilton.
  West Branch led 18-10 after the first quarter and though the Wildcats closed the scoring gap in the second quarter (11-8), West Branch held an 11-point lead at halftime.
  The Bears only outscored the Wildcats 13-11 in the third quarter, however they would carry a 42-29 lead into the final quarter. There, the Bears doubled up the Wildcats, outscoring Durant 16-8 in the final quarter.
  West Branch’s guard court gave the Wildcats problems all night. Junior Tatum Koenig led West Branch in scoring with 22 points while senior Haley Mullinix had 16 points. The two combined for 9 steals, 6 assists and 6 rebounds. Abbey
Fryauf had a 10 rebound game and Abby Knoop scored 8 points and pulled down five rebounds.
Durant was led by Aubrey Werthmann who scored 16 points, 11 of those came in the second half. Autumn Wolf scored 9 points and grabbed 6 rebounds and Hannah Happ turned in an 8-point, 6-steal game off the bench.

Knights Comeback Falls Short
CAMANCHE — The North Cedar Knights almost pulled off their biggest conference win of the season last Tuesday when they traveled to Camanche.
The Knights had to rally from down five at halftime and nine after three quarters. The Knights outscored the Indians 16 to 9 in the final quarter, but came up two points short of tying the game, falling 50-47 on the road.
  The Indians have played close games against fellow RVC North schools, beating Monticello
by two, Cascade by four and NE Goose Lake by five before
the scare from the Knights. North Cedar fell to the Indians at home 68-54 in their season opener on November 22.
  North Cedar was led by starters Leah Crock and Tessa Fields with 14 and 13 points. Crock grabbed 8 rebounds and Fields had 6 rebounds, 8 assists and 5 steals. Kourtney Bendixen scored 6 points and pulled down 4 rebounds off the bench.
  North Cedar trailed 15-12 after the first quarter and 23-18 at halftime. Camanche outscored
the Knights 18 to 13 in the third quarter. Marly Bussa led three Indians in double figures with 14 points, 6 rebounds and 6 steals. Camanche had 16 steals, 12 assists and 39 rebounds in the game. North Cedar had 12 steals, 15 assists and 32 rebounds in the game.

Knight Boys Struggle To Keep Up With Indians
  CAMANCHE — The North Cedar Knights had a tough task last Tuesday when they traveled to Camanche to take on one of the state’s highest scoring teams. The Indians are in the top-5 for the most points scored in a game for the entire state. Last Tuesday the Indians beat the Knights 82-50 and in doing so, topped the 70-point mark in their seventh game in ten contests this year. The Indians have been marching through the River Valley Conference North division this year with a 4-1 record and have won RVC North games by an average of 23 points.
  Against the Knights, Camanche raced to a 23-11 lead after the first quarter and built on that lead the rest of the game. North Cedar played their best basketball in the second and fourth quarters where the Indians only outscored them by six points in each quarter.
  Carter Johnson had a team high 14 points and Owen Meyer scored 13 for North Cedar.
Dev Patel led three Indian starters in double figures with 21 points.