Hawks End 4-Game Skid at Ankeny

OSTRANDER GRABS 27 CAROMS IN 60-53 WIN

The streak has ended. East Greene put a stop to a four-game losing streak in boys basketball with a 60-53 win over Ankeny Christian Academy in Ankeny on Tuesday night.

After some poor starts in its last few games, the Hawks came out solid and played the Eagles even through three quarters of play. A big 22 to 11 push in the last quarter sealed the win over a team that had rolled over EG by 20 points back in December.

“This was a great win for our program,” said assistant coach Mark Renslow. “We changed up our defensive scheme and it worked out great.”

Ankeny Christian was up by three after one quarter of play, 18-15, and held a slim advantage at the half, 26-25. The Eagles pulled in front 42-38 by the end of the third period, but the Hawks bore down and took command of the game in the last quarter.

The Hawks were paced by Reed Ostrander who scored 22 points, pulled down 27 rebounds and blocked 6 shots. Renslow said Ostrander’s 27 rebounds is most likely a school record. “I’m checking on that.”

Also in double figures were Wyatt Beaman with 17 points and Alex Gordon with 12. The Hawks continue to look to regain the shooting touch that helped them to a four-game win streak before the Christmas break. Against Ankeny Christian, they were 19 of 51 for 37% but only 4 of 20 from behind the three-point line for just 20%. The Eagles were 21 of 63 from the field for 33% and 3-11 behind the arc for 27%.

The game was won at the free throw line, where EG went 18-27 for 67% compared with ACA’s 8-15 for 53%. Rebounding was even with EG holding a slight 42-40 advantage.

This was a key win for EG as the Eagles were still in contention for the Rolling Hills championship after beating Paton-Churdan 69-33 last Tuesday to move to 8-2 in the conference, just behind co-leaders CAM and Exira/Elk Horn-Kimballton at 9-1.

ACA and EEHK then tangled on Friday night at Ankeny, with the Spartans getting a 69-46 win to move to 10-1 and dropping ACA to 8-3, leaving them in third place just ahead of Adair-Casey (7-4), who lost by 7 to EEHK. CAM rolled over EG in Rippey 74-43 that same night—the Hawks’ fourth straight loss—to stay deadlocked with EEHK for the league lead. The loss dropped EG to 5-6 in the league so it didn’t look too promising with a road game at the third-place team in the conference next on the schedule.

EG evened its league mark to 6-6 and is now tied with Orient-Macksburg for fifth place, just behind Adair-Casey (7-5). ACA (8-4) remains in third place behind the co-leaders.

EG and ACA are also in the same district for post-season play and are jockeying for a good seed, which is based on results of games 5-14 on each team’s season schedule. The win moved EG to 5-4 for the seeding standing and dropped ACA to 6-3 with two games left for seeding purposes for both teams. EG hosts Walnut tomorrow night in Rippey and takes on Paton-Churdan in Churdan on Tuesday.

Rolling Hills Conference Boys Basketball

CAM (Anita) 11-1

Exira/Elk Horn-Kimballton 11-1

Ankeny Christian 8-4

Adair-Casey 7-5

East Greene 6-6
Iowa Christian 6-6
Orient-Macksburg 5-7
Walnut 3-9
Glidden-Ralston 3-9
Paton-Churdan 0-12

Tuesday, Jan. 17, Scores:

EG 60, ANK 53

EEHK 49, AC 42

CAM 60, GR 45

ICA 45, WAL 39

OM 41, PC 34