The level of competition in the Top of Iowa West is strong, and the Eagles found out just how tough some of these teams are in their opening week of conference play.
Their most recent game last Friday resulted in a 69-30 loss at West Hancock. The home team was already up by 11 at 17-6 to start the second period. They outscored the visiting Eagles by 16 over that stretch to finish with a 37-10 halftime lead. Eagle Grove finished with 32.1 percent from the field, 72.7 percent at the line and 39.3 percent from beyond the arc. They picked up 20 total rebounds, five total assists and five total steals.
West Hancock 69, Eagles 30
Player Pts. Rbs. Ast. Stl.
Canavan 3 5 2 0
Darland 2 3 1 1
Purcell 7 6 0 0
Herrington 5 1 0 0
Mason 5 1 0 1
Morris 2 0 0 0
Hansen 0 1 0 1
Weber 3 0 1 0
Hernandez 3 2 0 2
Pamperin 0 0 1 0
Richardson0 0 0 0
Blocked shots: Hansen, Weber 1 ea.
Three-pointers: Canavan, Purcell, Herrington,
Hernandez 1 ea.
Prior to that, they lost to Clarion-Goldfield-Dows 51-32 on November 30 in Clarion. A free throw by Darland gave them their first score of the game, with Canavan hitting for a trey to make it 12-4 Cowboys. The quarter ended at 14-6, with the halftime score at 26-14. They kept it relatively close throughout the second half but were never able to challenge the Cowboy lead. They finished with 31.4 percent from the field, 41.7 percent at the line and 38.5 percent from three-point land. They had 29 total rebounds, nine total assists and five total steals.
“It was our first game and it showed at times,” stated head coach Ryan Pedersen. “We were able to move the ball on offense and protect the basket on defense. We were able to make a little run in the third quarter to get wiyhin six points, however we didn’t do a good enough job of passing and protecting the ball. We had too many turnovers. Overall, I was happy with the effort the boys brought. We just need to make some adjustments on offense and protect the ball. I feel like our defense is good enough to win games.”
CGD 51, Eagles 32
Player Pts. Rbs. Ast. Stl. Canavan 11 7 3 0 Darland 5 4 2 1 Purcell 7 5 3 1 Hansen 0 2 1 3 Mason 9 4 0 0 Morris 0 0 0 0 Herrington 0 0 0 0 Weber 0 0 0 0 Hernandez 0 2 0 0 Pamperin 0 0 0 0
Blocked shots: none
Three-pointers: Canavan, Purcell 2 ea., Mason 1
On Tuesday at home they lost to Forest City 46-20. The team could only manage five points in each of the first two quarters as the Indians held a 19-10 halftime lead. The team shot 22.9 percent from the field, 100 percent from the charity line and 18.2 percent from three-point range. They had 28 total rebounds, four total assists and six total steals.
“Clarion and Forest City were two tough teams to play back to back, and especially for our first two games of the season,” said Pedersen. “Both these teams play tough defense, but the Indians are primarily a zone team while the Cowboys are man to man. We were able to play a good first half. We did a great job on defense and held the to just 19 in the first half. I was very proud of our effort on the defensive end. We took four charges in the first half and left everything on the floor. When we came out of halftime, it didn’t take long to see we were gassed. Forest City was able to do what they wanted in that half. Hopefully, we can take what we did in the first half into our upcoming games.”
Forest City 46, Eagles 20
Player Pts. Rbs. Ast. Stl.
Canavan 3 7 0 0
Darland 2 3 1 1
Purcell 3 3 0 0
Hansen 0 2 0 0
Mason 6 2 2 2
Morris 4 2 0 0
Herrington 0 3 0 0
Weber 0 0 0 1
Hernandez 2 2 1 2
Pamperin 0 0 0 0
Richardson 0 1 0 0
Blocked shots: Darland, Hansen 1 ea.
Three-pointers: Canavan, Purcell 1 ea.
The team travels to Bishop Garrigan this Friday.
