K-M trailed Winona Cotter at home last Tuesday night 37-35 at the half. Coach Chris Otterness said the team came out fired up the second half and outscored the Rambers 40-19 to break open a close game and win by 18, 75-56.
Friday night the KoMets ran into a top tier HVL team and did not shoot very well, according to coach Otterness. The result was a 64-43 loss.
The boys are now 4-3 in the conference and 10-5 overall. Thursday they host Lewiston-Altura in a non-conference game and Tuesday, February 9 they entertain Lourdes.
Coach Otterness said the KoMets lacked defensive intensity the first half, something they did have for an entire game winning at Cotter a month ago. When the shots started to fall the second half that also lifted the defense.
K-M shot 50% from the field (27 of 54), were 6 of 12 from beyond the three point arc (50%) and made 15 of 25 free throws (60%).
Assists, steals and turnovers played a big role in the outcome. K-M had only 10 turnovers compared to 18 for Cotter. K-M had 6 more assists (10 to 4) and 9 more steals (15 to 6).
At the start of the season the K-M coach said junior Ryan Trowbridge could shoot the ball. Tuesday night he was 7 of 11 from the field and scored a season high 17 points. Alex Ek was 6 of 10, scored 15 points and added a team high 8 rebounds. Jake Hodge chipped in 11 points, Phil Oertli scored 9 and Grant Starkey added 8 in the balanced attack. Hodge and David Kraft combined for 7 steals and Grant Starkey had a team high 3 assists.
K-M 43 - La Crescent 64
La Crescent doubled up on K-M the first half to take a 36-15 lead.
The KoMet’s Alex Ex and the Lancer’s James Lasarcik had a good battle inside, scoring 14 and 15 points, respectively. K-M was hurt by poor outside shooting and they were beat up on the boards. They had a 38 to 22 rebounding advantage and 8 to 3 for offensive rebounds.
K-M shot only 32% for the game (7 of 52) and were 3 of 18 (16.7%) from three point range. La Crescent, on the other hand, shot 45% from the field and were 9 of 9 at the free throw line.
K-M has typically dominated in the assist and steals category this season, but not in this contest. La Crescent had the edge in assists (10 to 3) and steals (12 to 9).
Along with Ek's 14 points, Phil Oertli had 8 and Jake Hodge 7 to go with 3 assists.
|