Comets slam the door

Strong finish overcomes slow start for Charles City in defeating Waukon Indians, 65-54

By John Burbridge

sports@charlescitypress.com

WAUKON — Slam dunks are not for pretentious contests.

Sometimes they can propel a team to victory.

Granted, Charles City may have been able to overcome a sluggish start and caught hosting Waukon anyway during Northeast Iowa Conference boys basketball action on Friday. But Cade Hemesath’s emphatic one-handed throwdown more likely didn’t hamper the effort.

Coming from a steal and assist from Mike Cranshaw, Hemesath’s slam gave the Comets a 43-42 lead early in the four quarter — their first lead since the start of the first quarter before Waukon had attained an advantage as high as 9 points.

The Comets — who scored only 5 points in the first quarter before pouring in 28 in fourth — eventually won going away, 65-54.

“We came out extremely flat in the first quarter,” said Comets coach Ben Klapperich, who had mentioned his team is amidst the tough post-holiday part of the schedule which consists of several back-to-back games.

The Comets had rolled over Hampton-Dumont, 71-35, the night before.

After scoring a season-high 30 points against the Bulldogs, Comet sophomore Jack Molstead had 17 points against the Indians.

Noah Schlader had 14 points which included four 3-point field goals, and Cranshaw had 11 points for the Comets (8-1 and 3-1 in NEIC).

Isaiah Welch scored a game-high 20 points for the Indians (2-4, 1-3).

“Waukon hit some timely shots throughout the game,” said Klapperich, whose team will travel to New Hampton on Tuesday. “We were able to take a lot of positives from the game, but really have to work on consistency from night to night.”

CHARLES CITY 65, WAUKON 54

Scoring By Quarters

Charles City 5 14 18 28 — 65

Waukon 11 15 16 12 — 54

CHARLES CITY — Jack Molstead 17, Mike Cranshaw 11, Noah Schlader 14, Cade Hemesath 9, Jaden Foster 9, Mike Andrews 5.

WAUKON — Isaiah Welch 20, Evan Armstead 4, Abe Schwartz 8, Michael Sweeney 13, Colin Waters 7, Mitchell Snitker 2.