Comets defeat Waukon, 54-52, for third-straight win

By Erik Hoefer

Press Correspondent

WAUKON — Tests! Teachers enjoy giving them. Students are accepting of them if they’ve studied. Coaches look forward to seeing how their teams will respond to them.

That’s what Charles City boys basketball head coach Todd Forsyth was looking forward to last Friday night in Waukon for the team’s final road game of the regular season.

His Comets came into the game winners of two consecutive games for only the second time all year.

And while the team had won half of their conference games on the road (victories at New Hampton and Oelwein), Charles City was looking for its first road win against a team with at least a .500 record.

And they got it. After running out to a big lead early, the Comets held on late to defeat the Waukon Indians, 54-52.

As has been the story lately, Charles City played well in the first quarter while being incredibly efficient with the ball. They jumped out to a 22-7 lead after one.

Forsyth marveled at his team’s play during those first eight minutes.

“We showed high intensity in that first quarter just as we had in our past two games,” Forsyth said. “We really shared the ball well.”

Then came the second quarter, and suddenly it was a new game.

Waukon took advantage of several Charles City turnovers to pull within 3 at halftime, trouncing the Comets 16-4 in the quarter, making it 26-23 at the intermission.

“Foul trouble hampered us in the second,” Forsyth mentioned. “Waukon hit their free throws and got back in the game.”

The third quarter saw Charles City regain some of the fine offensive rhythm they displayed in the first. The Comets outscored Waukon 18-13 to take a 44-36 lead to the fourth.

Waukon started to edge closer. A home team usually makes a run. Yet the Comets held on.

Shane Feller hit some key free throws down the stretch, and Charles City evened its NEIC record at 5-5 with the win and improved to 7-10 overall.

Forsyth liked what he saw from his team in crunch time.

“We continue to show real improvement late in games,” he said. “We were aggressive at both ends of the court, and Shane sank some free throws to seal the win.

“We’ve passed this test. We’ll have another one Tuesday (tomorrow) against Waverly.”

Brandt Gebel led the Comets with 16 points while shooting 60 percent from the floor (6-of-10) and had four rebounds. Feller had 11 points and six rebounds while Jack Molstead had 11 points and five assists. Noah Schalder had 9 points, Mike Cranshaw added 5, and Cade Hemesath had 2 points and five boards.

The Comets are sharing the ball well on a regular basis. Of the 23 baskets Charles City scored, 13 came with assists.

However, their shooting was a little off as they were only 21-of-60 from the field and 5-of-18 from beyond the 3-point arc.

The Indians were led by Haden Hammel, who scored a game-high 18 points — much of which from 8-of-12 free-throw shooting — and led all rebounders with 14.

Waukon (8-9, 5-5) also got 13 points and six assists from Peyton Hesse.

Now that their first three-game winning streak is secure, the Comets will face a Go-Hawk team that has lost two in a row (14-5 overall, 10-1 NEIC).