Comets defeat Wolverines (72-64) in opener; rally by fall short against Lions (64-62) on the road

By John Burbridge

sports@charlescitypress.com

CHARLES CITY — It was sharp shooting that helped Charles City jump out to an early lead against Dike-New Hartford during the boys basketball season-opener for both teams, Tuesday at Comet Gym.

And it was relentless defensive pressure, aggressive open-court initiative, and wood-splinters-be-damned pursuit for loose balls and rebounds that enabled the Comets to maintain a lead throughout the entire game on way to a 72-64 victory.

Though not conference foes, the Comets and Wolverines are annual opponents often meeting early in the season. DNH had been getting the better of these matchups, winning seven of the last eight contests including a 19-point victory in last year’s season-opener.

Comet junior Brennan Schmidt helped his team get off to a good start when he hit four 3-pointers in the first half that accounted for much of his 13 points. While hanging around the gym a little longer during the second day of practice, Schmidt was advised by Comet head coach Ben Klapperich that he should square up more on his shooting technique. Schmidt must have taken heed.

As the game progressed, Comet junior Chase Low began to find his rhythm in the open-court and along the baseline with his quick first step. The returning All-Northeast Iowa Conference player led the Comets with 20 points.

Charles City senior Mario Hoefer scored 16 of his 18 points in the second half and seemed to be in multiple places at one time whenever the Comets applied defensive pressure.

The closest the Wolverines came to catching the Comets was in the waning moments of the first half with Charles City nursing a 1-point lead (28-27). But then Jose Hernandez banked in a mid-court shot to put the Comets up by 4. Hernandez had 16 points on the night.

The Wolverines, led by Jacob Stockdale’s game-high 27 points that included five 3-pointers, managed to stay in the game for much of the second half and got within 4 (58-54) midway through the fourth quarter. But in the final minutes, the Comets made sure that DNH’s “shooters” weren’t going to beat them.

Thus, if you were open, there was a reason for that.

* The varsity final completed a tripleheader sweep for the Comets.

Charles City won the junior varsity game 47-40 after sophomore Kayden Kasemeier helped put the Comets up 17-2 in the first half — Kasemeier didn’t play in the second half as he later played in the varsity game.

In the freshman game, the Comets overcame an 11-point deficit to win 40-39. Victory was tantalizingly close for the Wolverines as a last-second shot rolled around the rim (twice) but didn’t fall through.

Jordin Ritter led the Comet freshmen with 16 points with Nick Williams adding 8.

CLEAR LAKE 64, CHARLES CITY 62: Down by 17 points at halftime and by 9 points going into the fourth quarter, Charles City rallied to tie Clear Lake late in regulation on the road Thursday.

But the Lions scored a reverse layup in the final seconds to pull out the victory.

Chase Low led the Comets (1-1) with 26 points.

CHARLES CITY 72,

DIKE-NEW HARTFORD 64

Scoring By Quarters

DNH 11 16 18 19 — 64

CC 16 15 22 19 — 72

Individual Scoring

DIKE-NEW HARTFORD (64) — Jacob Stockdale 27, Devon Kollash 11, Colin Meester 6, Braxten Johnson 9, Brewer Eiklenborg 4, Benton Bixby 7

CHARLES CITY (72) — Jack Hanson 5, Jose Hernandez 16, Brennan Schmidt 13, Mario Hoefer 18, Chase Low 20