Comet boys victorious, Comet girls defeated in varsity DH vs. Indians

By John Burbridge

sports@charlescitypress.com

CHARLES CITY — Playing without several key contributors, the Charles City Comets boys basketball team managed to withstand a late comeback surge from Waukon for a 71-67 victory Friday night at Comet Gym.

As common in sports, large voids that need to be filled often beckon upstarts to fill them. Such was the case regarding Comet sophomore Jack Hanson, who scored a career-high 21 points for the victors.

Hanson is no stranger when it comes to stepping out of obscurity to come through in the clutch. During the past football season, Hanson dressed for varsity primarily due to a sophomore game not being scheduled allowing him to kick a rare high school field goal in overtime to lift Charles City over South Tama on the road.

With the Indians shooting themselves back into the game after trailing by as many as 12 points in the second half, Hanson managed to score several left-handed finishes at the rim to keep Waukon in the rear-view mirror.

Jeb Wandro, another Comet sophomore, achieved varsity career-high scoring himself (17 pts.). Wandro has a lean-back jumper reminiscent of Hall-of-Famer Kevin McHale — but with Larry Bird range. Wandro connected for five 3-pointers with three of them coming in the first quarter.

Comet senior Jose Hernandez, a left-handed finisher himself, scored 17 points and — listed at 5-foot-9 — was among the team’s leading rebounders.

Junior guard Brennan Schmidt took advantage of increased playing time while scoring 8 points that included a pair of clutch one-and-one free throws after the Indians pulled within 2 (69-67) with less than a minute in regulation.

Charles City improved to 4-5 overall and 2-3 in the Northeast Iowa Conference. The Comets were due to host Waterloo West the following afternoon, but that game was postponed and rescheduled to Jan. 31 at 7:45 p.m. at Comet Gym.

Waukon (1-9, 0-4) mounted a long-range attack while hitting 11 3-pointers. Indian senior Braden Hemann had four of those “treys” while scoring a team-high 21 points.

Sean Murphy and Braxton Stewart each had 18 points for Waukon.

* Though alterations to the game have made shooting guards and point guards more focal pieces to offensive attacks, girls basketball still embraces the neccessity of a strong post presence.

The Waukon Indians have a “strong post presence” in junior Emma Palmer, who scored 15 points mostly in the paint while dominating the boards on both sides of the floor during her team’s 66-36 victory over the Comets in the first half of Friday’s varsity doubleheader.

Not only do players like Palmer score points, get rebounds and block shots … they also get opponents in foul trouble, which was the case against the Comets, who repeatedly had to give starters unwanted spells on the bench to avoid disqualifications.

Indian sophomore Breckan Stewart had a game-high 16 points for Waukon (6-5, 3-2).

Comet junior Ava Ellis, who has emerged as a reliable scoring threat this season, led Charles City with 13 points. Sisters Lydia and Lauren Staudt each added 6 points for the Comets.

* In Monday’s non-conference contest against Iowa Falls-Alden, Charles City’s girls played one of their better games of seasons in regards to spacing the floor, moving the ball to find the open shooter, anticipating and trapping on defense, scrambling for loose balls, and rebounding.

But the Cadets hit too many 3-pointers (8) and made too many foul shots (16) while keeping the Comets at bay in a 56-42 final.

Lydia Staudt had 21 points, Delaney Ruzicka scored a career-high 10 with Ava Ellis (7 pts.), Keely Collins (3) and Lauren Staudt (1) rounding out the scoring for Charles City (0-10).

Ella Sharar scored a game-high 24 points for IFA (3-8).

Girls Varsity

WAUKON 66, CHARLES CITY 36

Scoring By Quarters

WAUKON 24 9 20 13 — 16

CHARLES CITY 4 8 12 12 — 36

Individual Scoring

WAUKON — Maggin Criswell 3, Jayden Knox 2, Paige Hansmeier 7, Kaitlyn Krambeer 6, Breckan Stewart 16, Brinley Jones 6, Grace Stegen 4, Avery Regan 7, Emma Palmer 15

CHARLES CITY — Lydia Staudt 6, Lauren Staudt 6, Maggin Boss 2, Keely Collins 4, Hannah Hoffman 2, Ava Ellis 13, Jadyn Van Horn 3

Boys Varsity

CHARLES CITY 71, WAUKON 67

Scoring By Quarters

WAUKON 19 17 9 20 — 67

CHARLES CITY 21 16 19 15 — 71

Individual Scoring

WAUKON — Nash Pearson 2, Pat Hennessy 8, Sean Murphy 18, Braxton Stewart 18, Braden Hemann 21

CHARLES CITY — Jack Hanson 21, Jose Hernandez 17, Brennan Schmidt 8, Calvin Hanson 2, Jeb Wandro 17, Reed Peters 3, Drew Martin 3