Chickasaws defeat Comet boys, 64-60, and Comet girls, 45-34
By John Burbridge
CHARLES CITY — Defense wins championships.
It can also help you creep back into the game … or at least prevent you from being blown out of your own gym.
The Charles City Comets girls basketball team arguably played its best half-court defense of the season while hosting Northeast Iowa Conference foe New Hampton on Thursday night — especially in the second half.
But it wasn’t enough to overcome a 14-2 deficit after the first quarter and to make up for a series of turnover baskets the Comets yielded in the first half as the Chickasaws managed to maintain much of their distance and won 45-34.
New Hampton senior Lexi Rasmussen led all scorers with 13 points which she attained in the first half alone. Emma Nicolaisen was the only other Chickasaw scorer in double-figures with 10 points.
In addition to getting turnover baskets, New Hampton also finished several open-court layups when breaking the Comets’ full-court trapping press. But after taking a 29-15 lead at intermission, the Chickasaws weren’t granted as many easy baskets as the Comets were more effective with their press while producing turnovers.
Senior Kelsi Crooks led the Comets with 12 points. Freshman Olivia Zuspan scored 9 points and had four steals for Charles City, which fell to 1-13 overall and 1-7 in the NEIC.
New Hampton improved to 10-5 and 5-2 while completing the two-game regular-season sweep.
In addition to playing good half-court defense, the Comets also shot well from the free-throw line (9 of 10) … not bad when considering the defending NBA champions Cleveland Cavaliers recently missed 17 free throws in a game.
* Meanwhile in New Hampton, the Charles City boys basketball team dropped its third game in a row with a 64-60 loss to the Chickasaws.
New Hampton, which was led by Keagan John’s game-high 24 points and 10 of 13 shooting from the field, evened its overall record at 7-7 as well as its conference mark at 3-3.
Charles City had three players in double-figure scoring — Jack Molstead (20), Noah Schlader (17) and Cade Hemesath (10) — and got 10 rebounds from Jaden Foster, but it wasn’t enough as the Comets fell to 9-4 and 4-3 in the NEIC.
“We talk about effort, focus and discipline … but we didn’t have that for 32 minutes,” Charles City coach Ben Klapperich said. “We had stretches of it, but not enough to win.”
Like in their previous losses, the Comets were in position to seize victory late in the game as they led by 4 points with about two minutes remaining in regulation.
But a pair of turnovers when Charles City went “four corners” on offense enabled the Chickasaws pull out the victory.
“We’re in a funk right now … we have that monkey on our back,” Klapperich said. “We’re a little banged up and we let ourselves get a little out of shape after the break, which is probably my fault.
“We’ve got to get better, and I believe we will. I told our guys after the game that better things are waiting for us later in the season, we just got to get through this.”
Both Charles City teams will try to rebound tonight when they host Oelwein in a NEIC varsity doubleheader. The girls game will start at 6:15 p.m.; the boys game will follow at approximately 7:30 p.m.
Girls Basketball
NEW HAMPTON 45, CHARLES CITY 34
Scoring By Quarters
New Hampton 14 15 11 5 — 45
Charles City 2 13 10 9 — 34
NEW HAMPTON — Darian Wegner 2, Bailey Knowlton 3, Lauren Frerichs 7, Emma Nicolaisen 10, Isabel Leichtman 9, Madeline Moorman 2, Lexi Rasmussen 13.
CHARLES CITY — Kelsi Crooks 12, Bailey Mitchell 3, Olivia Zuspan 9, Genevieve Wandro 4, Jodie Sindlinger 6.
Boys Basketball
NEW HAMPTON 64, CHARLES CITY 60
Scoring By Quarters
Charles City 15 10 18 17 — 60
New Hampton 12 15 23 14 — 64
CHARLES CITY — Jack Molstead 20, Hakeem Sharief 1, Noah Schlader 17, Cade Hemesath 10, Jaden Foster 6, Mike Cranshaw 4, Tre Walker 2.
NEW HAMPTON — Keagan John 24, Zach Heying 2, Jake Zwanzinger 4, Tristan Sweiter 5, Tyler Rentschler 12, Zach Wemark 10, Josh Fenske 3, Mike Drewelow 4.
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