Hawks Win Third Straight

DOWN ORIENT-MACKSBURG, 69-41

East Greene worked itself into a high seed in the upcoming post-season with three straight hoop wins, the latest a 69-41 stroll over Orient-Macksburg on Friday, Jan. 27, in Rippey.

The win moved EG to 8-6 in the Rolling Hills Conference and 8-7 overall. Better yet, the Hawks record for post-season seeding improved to 7-4, which ties them with Guthrie Center and Ankeny Christian Academy for the No. 1 seed among the 10 teams in District 6.

Head-to-head competition is the first reference for breaking ties, and of the three teams, only EG and ACA had faced each other this season. EG beat the Eagles in Ankeny two weeks ago as one of the wins used for seeding purposes (games 5-14), but the Iowa High School Athletic Association considers all games during the season for head-to-head competition. ACA had downed EG back in December in Rippey, so the teams split their two games. East Greene and Ankeny Christian each have 7 tie-breaker points earned by wins over 1A teams.

That still leaves the teams deadlocked, so the IAHSAA uses an alphabetical tiebreaker, which alternates each year. This year, the team that starts with the lower letter gets the nod, so “e” wins over “a” giving EG the No. 2 seed for District 6.

Guthrie Center gets the No. 1 spot based on a points system as the Tigers earned extra points for wins over three Class 2A teams (2 points each) and losses to three 2A teams (1 point each). Guthrie’s point total of 13 outdistanced EG’s 7.

Seeding in each Class 1A district puts the top two seeds in opposite brackets. The teams are then divided geographically and seeded. Other teams in District 6 and their season records for games 5-14 are Woodward-Granger 6-5, Coon Rapids-Bayard 5-6, Audubon 3-8, Southeast Webster-Grand 3-8, Glidden-Ralston 2-9, Madrid 1-10 and Paton-Churdan 0-11.

Opening round games on Monday, Feb. 13, will pit the No. 7 and No. 10 seeds in one game and the No. 8 and No. 9 seeds in another game. The 7-10 winner will face the No. 2 seed and the 8-9 winner will take on the No. 1 seed. Most likely, based on seeding win-loss records, Audubon will be the seventh seed and host Paton-Churdan with the winner moving on to face East Greene. Glidden-Ralston will host Madrid, and the winner traveling to top seeded Guthrie Center.

OSTRANDER DOMINATES THE BOARDS

EG’s inside-outside duo of Reed Ostrander and Wyatt Beaman led the charge against Orient-Macksburg. Ostrander took command inside early in the game, helping the Hawks to a 15-12 first quarter lead. Beaman started finding the range in the second period and EG outscored the Bulldogs 19-10 to take a 34-22 advantage at halftime. EG extended the lead to 50-27 after three periods and coasted to the win the rest of the way.

Ostrander scored 30 points, pulled down 12 rebounds and blocked eight shots while Beaman connected on 5 of 19 three point shots, a field goal and two free throws for 19 points. Tory Beger added 10 points and 8 assists, and Cody Hidelbaugh pulled down 10 assists.

As a team, the Hawks were 17 of 28 in shooting for 61% and connected on 8 of 31 three-point attempts for 26%. EG went 11 of 16 from the line for 69%. The Hawks pulled down 39 rebounds.

Last Tuesday, Jan. 24, EG beat Paton-Churdan, 81-62, in Churdan. That followed the win over Ankeny Christian, 60-53, in Ankeny on Jan. 17. ACA had downed the Hawks earlier in the season and was battling Exira/Elk Horn-Kimballton and CAM (Anita) for the conference lead. EG’s game at Rippey against Walnut on Friday, Jan. 20, was postponed to Monday, Feb. 6, due to a car accident that seriously injured a member of the Walnut girls team the previous day, Jan. 19 so the Hawks had a week-long gap between the ACA and PC games.

Ostrander had 29 points and 26 rebounds against PC, which is one of the top rebounding performances in school history. Beaman added 16 points on 4-12 three-point shooting and 2-3 on two-point goals.

After posting a 14-11 first quarter lead, EG put up 29 points in the second quarter to take a 43-25 lead at the half. EG held the advantage the rest of the way, giving the Hawks a sweep of the home-and-away series with the Rockets this year.

Ostrander pulled down 27 rebounds in the Ankeny Christian game for his career-best rebounding effort, which he almost equaled a week later against Paton-Churdan. He led the Hawks with 22 points. Beaman had 17 and Alex Gordon added 12. ACA’s 6-7 center Ben Taylor led all scorers with 25 points.

Ostrander, a junior, is the second-leading rebounder in the state in Class 1A with 16.2 rebounds a game. He is the leading rebounder in the Rolling Hills Conference and second-leading scorer.

EG goes on the road to face Glidden-Ralston tomorrow night, Tuesday, Jan. 31, and then to Adair-Casey on Friday, Feb. 3. The make-up game with Walnut will be Monday, Feb. 6, in Rippey with the Hawks hosting Exira/Elk Horn-Kimballton in the final conference game the following night. The regular season ends Friday, Feb. 10, at Audubon, a member of the Western Iowa Conference.

Rolling Hills Conference Boys Basketball

CAM (Anita) 14-1
Exira/Elk Horn-Kimballton 14-1
Ankeny Christian 11-4
East Greene 8-6
Adair-Casey 8-7
Iowa Christian 6-9
Orient-Macksburg 6-9
Walnut 3-11
Glidden-Ralston 4-11
Paton-Churdan 0-15
 
Friday, Jan. 27 Scores:
EG 69, OM 41
AC 59, GR 36
CAM 83, PC 50
ANK 47, WAL 31
EEHK 70, ICA 37
 
Tuesday, Jan. 24 Scores
EG 81, PC 62
ANK 47, AC 45
CAM 60, WAL 41
GR 48, ICA 45
EEHK 49, OM 37
 
Friday, Jan. 20 Scores:
WAL @ EG, postponed to Monday, Feb. 6
ANK 69, GR 58
CAM 58, AC 36
EEHK 71, PC 37
OM 30, ICA 29