Boys basketball: Savages come through in the clutch against Columbus
Dec. 8—SIGOURNEY — Free throws matter.
At least, most of the time they matter. Tuesday thus far has been the lone exception early in the season for the Sigourney High School boys basketball team.
Despite making just three of 10 attempts from the charity stripe, the Savages had no problem securing their second South Iowa Cedar League win of the season. Ty Shafranek's 20-point effort paced a balanced attack for Sigourney in a comfortable 65-42 win over English Valleys, the first win this season for the Savages that didn't come down to the final minute.
"Effort is never going to be an issue with this group. We've got guys that are willing to dive all over the floor for every loose ball right up until the final buzzer," Sigourney head boys basketball coach Mitch Eslick said. "For us, it's just a matter of cleaning some things up X and O-wise. Scoring 42 points is usually not going to be enough to beat against good teams. You're not going to be able to hold the best teams in our league into the 40s. We just have to continue to play this well on the offensive end if we want to compete throughout the season."
Sigourney has allowed just 40 points a game in their three wins so far this season. Tuesday's win over English Valleys was a breakout night for the Savages after improving to 2-1 on Monday with a hard-fought 42-38 non-conference win over Columbus holding off the Wildcats in the final minute after building an eight-point lead early in the fourth quarter.
"I thought we were a little flat at the beginning," Eslick said of Monday's win. "It was kind of a slower-paced game. We kind of played into their hands in the first half. We finally started to get some easier baskets in the third quarter. We pressured the ball better, which is something we emphasized at the half, and Coach (Zach) Tremmel made a move to get Isaac Bruns into the corner. I thought that helped us offensively to allow him to attack the basket from a different angle, because he's our best guy at getting downhill and getting to the basket."
Sigourney quickly erased a 20-18 halftime deficit, scoring the first seven points of the second half to take the lead for good. Karson Weber scored 14 points to lead the Savages on Monday, including a 3-pointer earlier in the second half that gave Sigourney a 23-20 lead.
"It was a pretty physical game with a lot of fast pace," Weber said. "We just have to keep our momentum going in those type of games and continue to play hard."
Weber added 18 points on Tuesday in Sigourney's 23-point SICL win at English Valleys, continuing to step up to help the Savages get their season off to a winning start. Weber clinched a season-opening SICL win over Iowa Valley, 50-48, by sinking two free throws with no time left on the clock.
"It was a pretty huge moment, but I just locked myself in," Weber said of the clutch game-winning foul shots. "I know I can hit my free throws. I just stepped up and executed."
Free throws helped Sigourney (3-1, 2-1 SICL) secure Monday's non-conference win over Columbus. The Wildcats used a 6-2 run early in the fourth quarter to cut Sigourney's eight-point lead in half before four straight free throws in the final two minutes pulled Columbus within 40-38 entering the final minute of regulation.
Needing a score to prevent the Wildcats from having a chance to tie or take the lead in the final seconds, Clay Morse drew a foul driving to the basket. Needing to make both to secure the win, Morse stepped up to roll in two of his own clutch free throws to close out a 10-point night for the Savages.
"Clay actually hit two free throws in the Iowa Valley game to tie that game late," Eslick said. "He actually made it to a state free-throw shooting competition when he was in elementary school. Shooting hasn't always been his calling card, but when he needs to he came up with two of the biggest shots of the game for us."
Grant Watson led Columbus (1-4, 1-2 SEI north) on Monday at Sigourney with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Despite adding 14 points and six more boards for the Wildcats on Tuesday, Columbus dropped a 65-35 Southeast Iowa Superconference north division decision to Pekin who improved to 2-1 on the season scoring 23 points in the fourth quarter to clinch the victory.
Sigourney and Pekin will both be in conference action on Friday as the Savages head to Belle Plaine for an SICL battle while the Panthers face Highland in an SEI north showdown. Pekin will also be back on their home floor on Saturday hosting defending South Central Conference champion Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont while the Savages host another SCC squad, Cardinal, on Monday night.
— Scott Jackson can be reached at sjackson@ottumwacourier.com. Follow him on Twitter@CourierScott.
