West Fork completes season sweep of North Butler

SHEFFIELD – Less pressure from West Fork resulted in a closer score, but the Warhawks completed the Top of Iowa East Conference girls’ season sweep with a 49-34 win over North Butler on Tuesday, Feb. 2.

Part of the reason for pulling off the full-court pressure that smothered the Bearcats in a 24-point loss the first meeting at Greene was the fact that the Warhawks were missing the first person off their bench in Rylie Akins.

“Rylie sprained her ankle against Central Springs a couple games ago,” West Fork coach Rodney Huber said. “She played a little bit during the St. Ansgar game, but has struggled a bit with it, so we are holding her out this week.

“Probably will try to see if she can play against Osage Monday, but we don’t want to rush her back. We need her back full-strength for district play.”

North Butler coach Carrie Eiklenborg also noted the lack of full-court stifling pressure from the Warhawks and that was indeed a difference.

“We’re getting used to more pressure and presses,” coach Eiklenborg said. “I’m surprised they didn’t. I can imagine because I saw they were down (Akins).”

Huber also said that he wanted to try something different defensively with the post-season looming.

“Because we were without Rylie and a little light in depth we decided to press less than we normally do,” Huber said. “We also are using the opportunity to focus on our half-court defense because we know when we get into district play, we can not rely on pressing teams and turning them over.

“I thought we played very solid defense and rebounded the ball well. We only committed six team fouls and North Butler only shot two free throws to our 27, which I felt was a big part of the reason we ultimately won. We didn’t shoot the ball especially well, but because our defense was solid, we were able to have a pretty comfortable win.”

The Warhawks were 17-of-27 from the charity stripe.

“We struggled with fouls,” coach Eiklenborg said. “We talked about it in practice, but they are going hard and as long as they are going hard (I can’t complain). We talk about playing defense with our feet, not our hands and bodies, but we give up a lot of points at the foul line. And that’s been hurting us the last few games.”

Emma Martinek led West Fork with 15 points, scoring 11 in the first half alone. Madisyn Bonner added 11.

North Butler had more balance in this game, but didn’t have anyone in double-digit scoring, led by Meg Thompson’s three three-pointers for nine.

“We’re definitely shooting better from the first half of the season,” coach Eiklenborg said. “We are shooting with more confidence and playing with more confidence.”

After a relatively close first quarter at 16-10, the Warhawks outscored North Butler 13-4 in the second eight minutes of play.

“Our second half was definitely better,” coach Eiklenborg said. “They outscored us by 15 in the first half and the second half was even. We talk a lot about putting four quarters together because we have one quarter. This time was probably the second because we hardly scored. We’ve really got to adjust and react to whatever changes they make and put together four quarters and competing.”

On Senior Night, both of Huber’s two seniors were able to make appearances in the West Fork victory.

“I was glad that I got Sadie (Latham) into the game,” Huber said. “She only played in two games this season due to a torn ACL, so that is pretty special. I will miss Mak (Fessler) and her tremendously.

“Mak has been on the varsity roster since her freshman year and will be a three-year letter winner. Her work ethic and leadership have had a huge impact on this team.”

West Fork 49, North Butler 34

North Butler (3-16, 3-8)– Carly Adelmund 0-3 0-0 0, Haley Freesemann 1-7 2-2 4, Meg Thompson 3-10 0-0 9, Brooke Niemann 0-1 0-0 0, Madison Clipperton 4-10 0-0 8, Kenzie Groen 2-4 0-0 5, Lauren Fleshner 0-1 0-0 0, Kaycee Wiebke 0-2 0-0 0, Haylee Niemann 2-4 0-0 5, Brooklynn Wix 1-1 0-0 2, Sydney Eiklenborg 1-8 0-0 2. Totals 14-51 2-2 34.

West Fork (12-6, 2-13)– Makenzie Fessler 1-3 0-2 3, Maddie Hubka 3-8 1-4 7, Ellie Weaver 2-9 3-6 7, Madisyn Bonner 4-8 3-4 11, Emma Martinek 4-11 6-6 15, Mycah Weaver 0-5 0-0 0, Mallery Meier 0-1 0-0 2, Keelee Sheriff 1-3 4-6 6, Sadie Latham 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 15-49 17-27 49.

N. Butler    10     4   11     9      -   34

W. Fork      16   13   10   10      -   49

Three-point goals– NB 4-20 (Thompson 3-7, Groen 1-3, B. Niemann 0-1, Freesemann 0-2, Adelmund 0-2, Clipperton 0-5); WF 2-11 (Fessler 1-3, Martinek 1-3, Bonner 0-1, Hubka 0-4). Rebounds– NB 28 (Clipperton 9, Freesemann 6, Thompson 4, H. Niemann 2, Eiklenborg 2, Wiebke 2, Adelmund, B. Niemann, Fleshner), WF 32 (E. Weaver 8, Bonner 8, Martinek 6, Sheriff 4, Fessler 3, Hubka 3). Assists– NB 11 (Clipperton 3, Groen 3, Wiebke 2, Freesemann, H. Niemann, Wix); WF 8 (Martinek 3, Hubka 2, Fessler, M. Weaver, Sheriff). Steals– NB 9 (Thompson 3, Clipperton 2, Freesemann, Eiklenborg, Adelmund, Groen); WF 14 (Fessler 4, E. Weaver 4, M. Weaver 2, Hubka, Bonner, Martinek, Meier). Blocks– NB, None; WF 1 (Martinek). Total fouls – NB 21, WF 6. Fouled out – None.