Comet boys clinch share of NEIC title with 73-40 victory over Indians

By John Burbridge

sports@charlescitypress.com

CHARLES CITY — Early on during their final Northeast Iowa Conference game of the regular season against Waukon on Tuesday, the Comets were a little off from point-blank range — they missed a couple of dunks.

Yet from beyond 19 feet, 9 inches, they were deadlier than a black mamba.

A good thing because from that range the shots are worth more.

Charles City’s 5-foot-10 senior guard Brennan Schmidt didn’t attempt any dunks, but he wasn’t shy of launching it from beyond the arc as he hit five-of-seven of his 3-point field goal attempts while leading all scorers with 17 points during the Comets’ 73-40 win over the Indians.

Schmidt hit four of those treys in the first quarter helping the Comets jump out to a 27-9 lead after one and a 50-23 advantage at intermission.

Schmidt wasn’t the lone marksman for the Comets as seniors Chase Low and Drew Martin each scored 12 points while respectively going two-of-four and two-of-three from 3-point range, and junior Jack Hanson was two-of-three from long range while scoring 10 points.

As a team, the Comets shot 13-of-22 from beyond the arc while achieving a season-high in 3-point shots made — interestingly, though, Charles City for the first time all season didn’t make a single free throw while only attempting two the entire game.

Tuesday’s win clinched a share of the NEIC title for the Comets (15-4), who finished with a 9-1 league record.

Waverly-Shell Rock, currently at 8-1 in the NEIC, could tie the Comets’ league mark with a win over Decorah on Friday. A Vikings win would make Charles City the outright NEIC champions.

The Comets and Go-Hawks split their regular-season series. Charles City’s lone NEIC loss was in double-overtime at WSR — an antithesis to Tuesday’s game for the Comets as they shot only 2-of-19 from 3-point range during their setback against the Go-Hawks.

The Comets were able to empty their bench in the second half allowing for 11 players to enter the scoring column — much to the delight of the Charles City student section.

Ironically, it wasn’t Charles City’s offense that initiated a running clock early in the fourth quarter — rather its defense as the Comets limited the Indians to just 4 points in the third quarter which helped put them up 64-27 after three.

Mason Wasson scored 16 points to lead Waukon (3-17, 0-10).

The Comets will conclude regular-season play when hosting Class 2A No. 1-ranked Aplington-Parkersburg on Friday.

Low, Martin, Schmidt, Steven Cotton, Logan Friest and Joel Villagomez were feted between games of the varsity doubleheader as part of Charles City’s “Senior Night”.

* The Charles City girls basketball team finished its regular season with a 78-37 loss to Waukon.

The Indians jumped out to a 27-5 lead before the Comets responded with a 9-0 run. Charles City stayed close up until halftime (37-23), but like in its last three previous losses to Crestwood, New Hampon and Mason City where the Comets remained close at intermission, the Indians turned up the tempo in the second half making it an up-and-down-the-court game while running away with it.

Ava Ellis led the Comets with 16 points — 12 of which she scored in the first half to keep her team in the game.

Delaney Ruzicka had 8 points and 10 rebounds for Charles City.

The Comet girls finished the regular season with an overall record of 2-18 and an NEIC mark of 1-9. Their wins include a come-from-behind road victory over North Butler, and a belated forfeit win over Crestwood.

The Cadets had initially defeated the Comets 57-24 on Jan. 17, but were later slapped with three-straight forfeit losses which included games against Waukon and Wapsie Valley for an undisclosed reason.

Next up for Charles City’s girls is a Class 4A-Region 5 first-round game against Waverly-Shell Rock next Wednesday (Feb. 15) with a tip-off scheduled for 7 p.m. According to the Class 4A pairings released Wednesday by the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union, the Comets will host the game at Comet Gym.

Winner advances to face Class 4A No. 15-ranked Mason City at Mason City in the bracket semifinals at 7 p.m. Feb.18.

Ellis, Ruzicka and twins Janila and Nakila Toney were honored between games of the varsity DH as part of Charles City’s “Senior Night”.

Ellis also received the annual Amy Boley Heiter Memorial Scholarship Award during the ceremony between games.

The $500 scholarship is given to a Comet senior girls basketball player who best exemplifies the inspirational play and spirit of the former Comet and NIACC star, who died of Synovial Sarcoma, a rare form of soft tissue cancer, at the age of 23 on April 29, 2015.

Past recipients have included Sarah Barry (2016), Bailey Mitchell (2017) Payton Reams (2018), Kara Hoffman (2019), Liz Fiser (2020), Sadie Gebel (2021) and Lydia Staudt (2022).

Girls Varsity

WAUKON 78, CHARLES CITY 37

Individual Scoring

CHARLES CITY — Madie Lensing 1, Janila Toney 6, Maggie Boss 3, Hannah Hoffman 3, Delaney Ruzicka 8, Ava Ellis 16.

RECORDS — Charles City 2-18 (1-9 Northeast Iowa Conference), Waukon 13-8 (6-4)

Boy Varsity

CHARLES CITY 73, WAUKON 40

Scoring By Quarters

Waukon 9 14 4 14 — 40

Charles City 27 23 14 9 — 73

Individual Scoring

WAUKON — Jack O’Neill 3, Kole McCormick 2, Noah Hatlan 3, Nash Pearson 5, Mason Wasson 16, Jacob Courtney 2, McKinley Rostvold 4, Jaxon Brinkman 4, Colton O’Neill 1.

CHARLES CITY — Jack Hanson 10, Brennan Schmidt 17, Keenan Wiley 5, Chase Low 12, Kayden Kasemeier 2, Kam Mestas 6, Steven Cotton 3, Joel Villagomez 2, Jeb Wandro 2, Drew Martin 12, Logan Friest 2.

RECORDS — Charles City 15-4 (9-1 Northeast Iowa Conference*), Waukon 3-17 (0-10)

* Clinched share of NEIC title