North Butler uses previous day’s loss to earn win over West Fork

SHEFFIELD – Facing a similar press break from the previous night against Class 1A No. 9 Clarksville, the North Butler girls’ basketball team was able to handle West Fork to take a 43-29 victory over the Warhawks and improve to 4-6 overall, 3-4 in the Top of Iowa East Conference.

The Bearcats also shot the ball well, something West Fork’s girls have not been doing, helping to turn a 23-21 deficit into a 30-23 lead entering the fourth quarter.

It was North Butler’s first win over West Fork since the 2013-14 season when the Bearcats went 19-2.

“This was a really good win for us,” first-year coach Carrie Eiklenborg said. “Like I told the girls, we were probably not expected to win that game, but they played with confidence, they were calm and steady and didn’t rush things. Totally different from our game last night (against Clarksville). I’m really super-proud of them and really happy for that win.”

Clarksville, which forced North Butler into double-digit turnovers, made what West Fork threw at them seem easy.

“We talked about that tonight,” coach Eiklenborg said. “We used last night as a practice for tonight’s press because they both were very similar presses, too, just a little bit more pressure last night with that press.

“I have to say we learned from last night’s press break and we mixed it up a little bit and mixed up a little bit with a couple of different press breaks and the girls did a great job, they ran them well.”

West Fork coach Rodney Huber said that his defense isn’t his team’s problem.

“That’s not what is ailing us right now.” Huber said. “Offense goes into defense. If you are not making your shots, you can’t get into your press, you can’t set up. We’ve got to get confidence on offense. Keep working.”

The Warhawks only shot 27 percent from the field, which is very little improvement in the last four games. Emily Caspers, who led West Fork with 12 points, was 6-of-15 from the field.

“We have to put the ball in the hoop,” Huber said. “We shot 14-of-50, that’s open shots. They didn’t guard us on the perimeter.”

Meanwhile, North Butler shot 34 percent from the field for the entire game, and was 8-of-20 in the second half. Madison Clipperton led the Bearcats with 12 points, six in each half and Mady Klingenborg went from two points at halftime to 11. Kristin Dralle, who had eight first-half points, finished the game with eight.

“I’ll be curious to see what our shot percentage was, but they started the game shooting with confidence and they ended the game shooting with a lot of confidence, so loved to see that,” coach Eiklenborg said. I think this is going to be a huge confidence boost going into the Rockford game next and we’ll get after it and get the next one. One game at a time.”

North Butler 43, West Fork 29

North Butler (4-6, 3-4) –Haley Freesemann 0-2 1-2 1, Meg Thompson 2-8 3-4 7, Madison Klingenborg 4-7 2-2 11, Madison Clipperton 4-15 1-3 12, Haylee Niemann 0-0 0-0 0, Sydney Eiklenborg 2-6 0-0 4, Kristin Dralle 3-5 2-2 8. Totals 15-43 9-13 43.

West Fork (3-7, 3-4)– Makenzie Fessler 1-8 0-0 2, Maddie Hubka 1-3 0-0 2, Rylie Akins 2-7 0-0 5, Ellie Weaver 1-7 0-0 2, Madisyn Bonner 1-2 0-0 2, Sadie Latham 1-2 0-0 2, Keelee Sheriff 0-0 0-0 0, Emma Martinek 1-6 0-0 2, Emily Caspers 6-15 0-4 12. Totals 14-50 0-4 29.

N. Butler      9   12     9   13      -   43

W. Fork        7   10     6     6      -   29

Three-point goals – NB 4-14 (Clipperton 3-11, Klingenborg 1-2, Thompson 0-1); WF 1-14 (Akins 1-4, Weaver 0-1, Hubka 0-2, Fessler 0-3, Martinek 0-4). Rebounds– NB 38, 9 off., 29 def. (Clipperton 13, Thompson 5, Klingenborg 5, Dralle 5, Team 5, Eiklenborg 4, Freesemann); WF 29, 10 off., 19 def. (Caspers 7, Fessler 6, Akins 3, Bonner 3, Sheriff 3, Martinek 3, Hubka 2). Assists– NB 13 (Thompson 3, Clipperton 3, Dralle 3, Freesemann, Eiklenborg); WF 10 (Hubka 3, Weaver 2, Bonner 2, Fessler, Martinek). Steals– NB 10 (Klingenborg 4, Clipperton 2, Eiklenborg 2, Dralle 2); WF 16 (Fessler 7, Hubka 3, Bonner 2, Martinek 2, Akins, Weaver). Blocks– NB 2 (Dralle 2); WF 2 (Hubka, Martinek). Total fouls– NB 9, WF 16. Fouled out – None.