Warhawks fly out with win over Bearcats

GREENE – Seeing their first action in two weeks, West Fork took a little while to get into rhythm, but once the Warhawks did, they solidified a 58-34 Top of Iowa East Conference win over North Butler on Tuesday, Jan. 5.

Emma Martinek’s game-high 24 points helped bolster coach Rodney Huber’s team as the Warhawks improved to 5-3 overall, 4-2 TIC.

“We didn’t shoot great,” Huber said. “Had some streaky parts to the game. A couple girls shot really well, a couple girls struggled a little bit. We have to shoot better from the free throw line. But, I think overall, we didn’t turn the ball over very much. I thought our half-court offense executed pretty well. We got good shots and we did go to the free throw line still 22 times, so that’s what we won’t. Good base to go off of.”

The Warhawks were just 7-for-22 at the charity stripe.

Hanging with West Fork early, North Butler trailed just 15-9 after the first quarter, but was held scoreless over the next eight minutes into the break as the Warhawks emerged with a 26-9 halftime lead.

“We need to work on putting four quarters together,” North Butler coach Carrie Eiklenborg said. “Against West Fork we didn’t score in the second quarter but then took better shots and scored in the second half. We got after the boards in all but the third quarter.

“Turnovers weren’t too bad, considering West Fork was pressing, if we take away the second quarter. We need to work on consistency and putting together a full game.”

North Butler’s floor leader and leading scorer, Madison Clipperton, picked up her fourth foul mid-way through the third quarter and had to go to the bench until the fourth quarter. Nonetheless, she never fouled out and finished with a team-high 14 points.

“We knew we had to slow her down and if we could do that, they would struggle a little bit,” Huber said of Clipperton. “They are not a bad-shooting team, they have a hard time creating shots, especially when she is not out there. That’s when we were able to take off a little bit, for the most part we did good except for that little stretch in the third quarter. Other than that, we defended pretty well.”

Coach Eiklenborg added, “We are missing Haley Freesemann and then when Madie Clipperton got in foul trouble, we were short on ball handlers. It’s never good when Madie has to play careful but she really came through with some points in the second half. Madie and Sydney connected on a few inside-outs and that was fun to see success there.”

West Fork starter Makenzie Fessler had some foul trouble, as well, picking up three quick fouls in the first quarter, but never committed another after sitting for much of the rest of the first half.

The Warhawks had their biggest test yet later on last week while facing Class 2A No. 3 Dike-New Hartford. Their previous test was a loss against Class 3A No. 7 Osage.

“Getting back and getting into a game is hard because you practice against the same people, so I think there is something to that,” Huber said. “We have another tough one on Thursday, Dike-New Hartford and I think they are better than last year. Obviously, we can’t miss shots. We are executing so well, but now we have to finish. We missed a lot of open threes and things like that.”

West Fork 58, North Butler 34

West Fork (5-3, 4-2)– Makenzie Fessler 4-8 0-1 9, Maddie Hubka 1-6 0-1 2, Ellie Weaver 2-5 1-6 5, Madisyn Bonner 2-6 3-6 7, Emma Martinek 9-18 3-4 24, Mycah Weaver 0-2 0-0 0, Mallery Meier 0-0 0-0 0, Rylie Akins 2-12 0-0 5, Keelee Sheriff 2-4 0-2 4, RaeLynn Nash 1-1 0-2 2. Totals 23-62 7-22 58.

North Butler (2-7, 1-6)– Meg Thompson 4-10 0-0 8, Madison Clipperton 5-7 2-3 14, Kenzie Groen 1-3 1-4 4, Sydney Eiklenborg 1-8 0-0 2, Brooklyn Wix 0-3 0-0 0, Brooke Niemann 1-3 0-0 2, Haylee Niemann 1-3 2-4 4, Alexis Brinkman 0-0 0-0 0, Elizabeth Mathers 0 0-0 0. Totals 13-37 5-12 34.

W. Fork      15   11   17   15      -   58

N. Butler      9     0   11   14      -   34

Three-point goals– WF 5-19 (Martinek 3-5, Fessler 1-3, Akins 1-7, E. Weaver 0-1, Hubka 0-3); NB 3-7 (Clipperton 2-2, Groen 1-1, H. Niemann 0-1, Thompson 0-3). Rebounds– WF 33 (Martinek 9, Bonner 8, Hubka 4, E. Weaver 3, Sheriff 3, Fessler 2, Akins 2, M. Weaver, Meier); NB 34 (Wix 9, Thompson 7, Clipperton 6, Eiklenborg 6, H. Niemann 3, Groen 2, Brinkman). Assists– WF 21 (Fessler 4, Hubka 3, E. Weaver 3, Bonner 3, Martinek 3, Akins 2, Sheriff 2, M. Weaver); NB 11 (Eiklenborg 3, Thompson 2, Clipperton 2, Groen, Wix, B. Niemann, H. Niemann). Steals– WF 19 (E. Weaver 4, Akins 4, M. Weaver 3, Fessler 2, Bonner 2, Nash 2, Hubka, Martinek); NB 7 (Clipperton 2, Groen 2, B. Niemann 2, Eiklenborg). Blocks – WF 3 (Martinek 2, Weaver); NB 11 (Eiklenborg 5, Groen 3, Clipperton 2, Wix). Total fouls – WF 13, NB 14. Fouled out – None.