Comet girls lose home-opener to Cougars 55-36

By John Burbridge

sports@charlescitypress.com

CHARLES CITY — It has been suggested that Iowa’s newly installed 35-second shot clock for high school basketball will make it more difficult for lesser teams to stay in the game against superior teams.

That may not bode well for the Charles City Comets girls team, which will be the underdog against most of the teams on its schedule while trying to end a victory drought that extends past all of last season.

But while forced to take a more expeditious approach on offense while getting more possessions per game, more Comets may find and develop their scoring prowess as the season progresses.

In their home-opener against Sumner-Fredericksburg on Tuesday, the Comets lost to the Cougars 55-36 while falling to 0-2 this young season.

But Charles City was able to get seven players in the scoring column and — after falling behind 35-17 at intermission — managed to outscore SF 22-20 in the second half.

Charles City senior Ava Ellis scored all of her team-high 9 points in the second half. Lauren Staudt scored 7 and Delaney Ruzicka added 6 for the Comets.

One of the challenges for the Comets this season will be trying to deny entry passes into the post and holding their own in the battle for rebounds.

While watching Charles City line up tallest to shortest while assigning rows for its team picture, you can’t help but notice that the Comets are nearly uniform in height with no player(s) standing head-and-shoulders above the rest.

The Cougars had such a player in center/forward junior Isabelle Elliott, who helped her team attain a double-digit lead early in the game before eventually scoring 14 points for the winners.

Cougar sophomore guard Seala Steege led all scorers with 22 points. A portion of Steege’s output came off missed shots as she displayed an uncanny ability of knowing where the ball is going to bound to before it hits the rim while swooping in from the perimeter for easy layups.

Charles City will be back in action next Monday (Nov. 28) when they host Independence. Tip-off is at 6:15 p.m. — note: there will only be a varsity game.

SUMNER-FREDERICKSBURG 55

CHARLES CITY 36

Scoring By Quarters

SF 17 18 10 10 — 55

CC 7 7 10 12 — 36

Individual Scoring

SUMNER-FREDERICKSBURG — Saela Steege 22, Jana Meyer 9, Alivia Lange 3, Brielle Volker 1, Alivia Seehase 2, Abby Zabel 4, Isabelle Elliott 14.

CHARLES CITY — Madie Lensing 3, Lauren Staudt 7, Janila Toney 4, Maggie Boss 3, Delaney Ruzicka 6, Ava Ellis 9, Alex Wohlers 4.

RECORDS — Charles City 0-2, Sumner-Fredericksburg 1-0