The Cowboy basketball machine was running on all cylinders last Monday night in Eagle Grove as they squared their record to 5-5 with a fourth straight win 93-35 over the Eagles. After rolling out of the gate to a 19-5 first quarter lead, they proceeded to outscore the home team 40 points to 17 for a nice 59-22 halftime advantage.
The team finished at 62.9 percent from the field, 81.8 percent from the charity line and 46.2 percent from three-point land. They had 35 total rebounds (23 defensively), 16 total assists, 17 total steals and five total blocked shots.
Mateo Martinez drained the rims for 28 points on 11 of 16 from the field and three treys. Connor State was right with him in netting 25 points on 10 of 14 and a perfect 5 of 5 at the line. Coady Olson put in eight points on 4 of 6, Aiden Harrington seven points on 3 of 4 and Jaxon Carpenter and Nevan Foss six points each. Landon Olson added five points, Tyson Berning and Jacob Moore three points each and Gavin Wilson two points to the final total.
State nearly had another double-double in pulling down nine boards. Harrington finished with six rebounds, Wilson five and Foss four. C. Olson and Carpenter got their mitts on three caroms each, with Martinez in on two and Berning, L, Olson and Moore all one apiece. Martinez dished the pumpkin for six assists, followed by C. Olson with four and both Harrington and State at two each. Foss and Berning added one each to their stat lines.
Martinez picked off six steals, with Harrington making four and State three. C. Olson, Carpenter, Foss and Wilson all made one apiece. State finished with two blocked shots, with Olson, Carpenter and Harrington all at one each.
“We were able to turn defense into offense,” stated head coach Brandon Lantzky. “We were able to take advantage of some of their mistakes and in turn create some offense. Connor played very well as did Mateo. In fact, the whole team played great. It is difficult to mention all the good things in this game. Our second and third string played well in this one. They played the whole fourth quarter and were able to expand the lead.”
They hosted Webster City on Friday and took a 72-62 win over the Lynx. State finished with a huge 23 points on 11 of 16 from the field. Martinez netted 19 points with two treys and Harrington 10 points to join him in double digits. Olson and Carpenter were close to making it five, finishing at eight points apiece with Olson getting six of those from beyond the arc. Foss and Moore scored two points each.
State nearly had another double-double in grabbing nine boards. Martinez got his mitts on four caroms, with Olson and Harrington at three each. Carpenter and Moore got two rebounds each, while Foss and Olson finished at one each. Harrington was high in assists with seven and Carpenter in steals with seven.
“This is the first time in seven or eight seasons we have beaten the Lynx,” said Lantzky. “Webster City did a good job of shooting the ball in the first quarter. We made some adjustments, including switching to a solid man to man defense. From there on we took off. We were able to make a lot of defensive stops to allow us to then extend the lead. We were able to hit some shots and then make our free throws down the stretch to pull away. Again State played well. Martinez continues to play well, and I was very impressed with the game that Harrington had. While he doesn’t score a lot, I believe he is one of the better rebounders and defenders in the conference.”
The stats for the Saturday rescheduled game at St. Edmond were not yet posted at press time. Watch for those in next week’s Monitor. The team is currently 7-5 overall.
