Holiday Cheer

Comets defeat New Hampton 78-64 to finish ‘year’ undefeated; to face No. 1-ranked Go-Hawks after the break

By John Burbridge

sports@charlescitypress.com

CHARLES CITY — Thanks to the weather, the Charles City Comets boys basketball team was graced with a nine-day break before heading into the holiday break.

And you can’t beat finishing the year undefeated.

That’s the distinction the Comets earned while thoroughly dispatching Northeast Iowa Conference foe New Hampton, 78-64, in front of a festive home crowd.

Charles City junior forward Cade Hemesath continues to shine this year — and hopefully in the years to come — as he led all scorers with 26 points.

Comet sophomore guard Jack Molstead, who was able to nurse an upper-leg injury during the break, scored 24. Juniors Noah Schlader and Mike Cranshaw had 14 and 11 points, respectively, as the Comets placed four players in double-figures.

Playing in front of the biggest home crowd of the, um, year, the Comets gave their regular fans, current students and a large representation of former Charles City students back for the holidays plenty to cheer about.

Hemesath’s steal and one-handed slam-dunk, the first of the season/year for the Comets, fired up an already stoked crowd at the start of the second half after the Chickasaws went on a 9-0 run late in the first half to get back in the game and pull within 4 (28-24).

The Charles City student fan section proved to be a factor in the game with its familiar off-synch second count at the end of the third quarter with the Chickasaws in possession, which seemed to provoke a five-second defensive stand call.

Yes, the Comets made their share of 3-point field goals — seven altogether with Cranshaw and Hemesath each connecting twice. But it was the 3-point plays that Charles City converted that kept it in front — often well in front — from start to finish.

Cranshaw’s twisting, over-the-back finish on a break with the foul put the Comets up 13-6 early. Then shortly after Hemesath’s second-half slam, Cranshaw assisted would-be 3-point plays by Schlader (open-court) and Hemesath (half-court) to extend Charles City’s lead again to double-digits (36-26).

After the five-second assist from the CC fans, Molstead assisted a funky, 25-foot split-second catch-and-shoot shot from Cranshaw to make the score 57-44 going into the final quarter.

The Comets (6-0, 2-0) won’t be back in action until Jan. 3 when they face the Class 3A AP top-ranked Waverly-Shell Rock Go-Hawks in Waverly. Charles City is ranked No. 8 in that same poll.

New Hampton (1-4, 0-2) was led by Tristan Sweitzer (15 points), and Zachary Wemark and Tyler Rentschler, who each had 13.

CHARLES CITY 78, NEW HAMPTON 64

Scoring By Quarters

New Hampton 9 15 20 20 — 64

Charles City 20 9 28 21 — 78

NEW HAMPTON — Tristan Sweitzer 15, Tyler Rentschler 13, Zachary Wellmark 13, Hachary Heying 9, Keagan John 6, Michael Drewelow 6, Joshua Fenske 1.

CHARLES CITY — Cade Hemesath 25, Jack Molstead 24, Noah Schlader 14, Mike Cranshaw 11, Jaden Foster 2, Elliott Gebel 1.