The Rundown – December 14

<p><em>Let’s recap Monday night’s action on the Iowa hoops scene:</em></p> <p><strong>Marion hands Kennedy first loss of season</strong></p> <p>Marion secured a 68-65 victory last night over Cedar Rapids Kennedy. It was dead even entering the fourth quarter, and Marion played with less mistakes in the final eight minutes to come out on top. [player_tooltip player_id="796111" first="Caleb" last="Schlaak"] was the best player on the court, and Marion had nothing to slow him. Last I checked, though, it’s difficult to score the basketball and make a great impact without ever touching the ball. Unfortunately for Kennedy, Schlaak didn’t get a single shot attempt in the final quarter. He nearly had a bucket plus the foul off his own backcourt steal, but it was ruled before the shot. It’s an impressive play that shows a glimpse of his length, athleticism, and great reaction speed:</p> <p>https://youtu.be/iLOwilJqVfw</p> <p>He finished with 16 points, 16 rebounds, 5 steals, and 3 blocks. Marion received efficient offensive production from a trio of double-figure scorers. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="964866" first="Gage" last="Franck"]</strong> and <strong>Alex Mota</strong> had 19 points apiece, but their top performer on the night was sophomore <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="956878" first="Brayson" last="Laube"]</strong>. He finished with 18 points on 71% effective field percentage, and 5 rebounds. He found his spots all night without ever interrupting the offense. It was close the entire game, but late turnovers and forced shots doomed Kennedy in the end.</p> <p><strong>PCM finds ways to win against North Mahaska</strong></p> <p>The PCM Mustangs have been searching for ways to generate consistent offense in 2020. Monday night was no different, but they were able to muck it up for both teams involved. They were active on defense from the tip. They made the simple passes difficult, and contested well all night. And they got some very nice play out of senior <strong>Andrew Mitchell. </strong>He was PCM’s most active perimeter defender. He finished with 5 steals, and nearly several more. He also had 17 points a 6 key rebounds. PCM gets a much-needed win over a top ten caliber team in North Mahaska, and this could possibly be the juice the team needed to run off some wins.</p> <p><strong>Meskwaki unbeaten no more</strong></p> <p>The Warriors were dealt their first loss of the season on Monday. <strong>Josh Baucum</strong> led the way for Grand View Christian. He finished with 24 points on 4/5 from three and 50% from the field. It was not a perfect game for Grand View. They turned it over 17 times and were sloppy at times. They still managed to win easily, 68–52, thanks to their hot shooting and consistent ball movement. They were a step ahead of the Warriors all night, who now fall to 3–1.</p> <p><strong>Quick Hits</strong></p> <ul style="list-style-type: circle;"> <li>Nashua-Plainfield senior <strong>Austin Bienemann</strong> erupted for 31 points on Monday night. He didn’t stop there either, grabbing 14 rebounds and dishing out 5 assists.</li> <li>North Fayette Valley’s <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="964888" first="Kole" last="Johnson"] </strong>posted an equally dominate stat line of 30 points, 15 rebounds (6 offensive), and 3 assists in a win over New Hampton</li> <li><strong>Oakley Semelroth </strong>(Tripoli, Soph.) scored 25 points on 10/17 shooting. He also secured 11 rebounds in the victory.</li> </ul>