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Collins-Maxwell boys basketball team records its first winning season 2022-2023

joe randleman, ames tribune
·6 min read

The Collins-Maxwell boys basketball team earned the first winning season in program history during the 2022-2023 season.

Under the direction of new head coach Curtis Fisher the Spartans went 12-11 overall and tied Colo-NESCO for second in the Iowa Star Conference South Division with an 8-4 conference mark. It is the first time Collins-Maxwell finished above .500 since starting as a program in 2017-2018.

"This was really a stepping-stone type of year for us," Fisher said. "It is never really easy in the first year of taking over a program, so we didn't really know what to expect out of our guys this year. We had some excellent senior leaders that bought in to what we were trying to accomplish as a program and as a team."

Luke Huntrods averaged 13 points and 7.5 rebounds and became Collins-Maxwell's all-time scoring leader in helping the Spartan boys basketball program post its first-ever winning season at 12-11 during the 2022-2023 season.
Luke Huntrods averaged 13 points and 7.5 rebounds and became Collins-Maxwell's all-time scoring leader in helping the Spartan boys basketball program post its first-ever winning season at 12-11 during the 2022-2023 season.

Fisher admitted it was a slow process, but by the end of the season Collins-Maxwell had put together its best run in the program's short history.

"Year one was truly about building our program's culture of respect, trust and accountability," Fisher said. "We had some good accomplishments this year that I feel will guide the future of Collins-Maxwell boys basketball in the right direction."

The Spartans dropped three of their first four games. They fell to Adair-Casey/Guthrie Center by an 80-50 score in their opener, edged conference rival BCLUW in a 50-49 thriller then suffered a 76-52 loss to eventual ISC South champion Baxter and a 54-44 loss to Ankeny Christian.

Collins-Maxwell evened its record after crushing Meskwaki (83-15) and edging North Tama (51-47). GMG handed the Spartans a heartbreaking 72-71 loss Dec. 16, but they came back to knock off Colo-NESCO in their final game before Christmas, 53-48.

After the holiday break Collins-Maxwell lost to Waterloo Christian (79-57) and Clarksville (59-43). The Spartans picked up their first win in January by completing a season sweep of BCLUW with a 50-39 triumph Jan. 10 in Maxwell.

Baxter overpowered Collins-Maxwell by a 90-40 score three days later. Then the Spartans went on their best run of the season by winning six straight.

Collins-Maxwell dominated every opponent during the streak. The Spartans bested Woodward Academy (66-40), Cedar Valley Christian (86-39), Meskwaki (73-9), North Tama (61-29), Martensdale St. Marys (66-42) and GMG (57-46).

Colo-NESCO ended Collins-Maxwell's streak by handing the Spartans a tough 52-48 loss Jan. 31. The Spartans then fell to Gladbrook-Reinbeck (81-23) and Woodward-Granger (84-55) to close out the regular season.

The Spartans faced off against Colo-NESCO for the third time during the 1A district quarterfinals. They avenged their loss at the end of January and advanced to the semifinals with an exciting 63-61 win at Colo.

In the 1A district semifinals Collins-Maxwell saw its season come to a close with an 85-31 loss to eventual state qualifier Madrid.

"I think that we grew in many different areas throughout the year," Fisher said. "The biggest improvement was on the defensive end. We came into this year taking over the program with the focus and attention on being a defensive type of team. In years past they had played mainly zone defense and I am more of a man-to-man/matchup type of coach and we knew that was going to be a big switch for the boys. By the end of the season it certainly became part of our identity."

Collins-Maxwell ended the season averaging 55.3 points shooting 36.8% from the field, 52.2% from the line and making 142 3-pointers at a 26.1% success rate. The Spartans averaged 13.3 assists against 17.3 turnovers.

"Our biggest weakness this year was probably ball security," Fisher said. "I don't necessarily look at our total turnovers as an indicator because not all turnovers are the same and we typically try to be a heavy transition team which will end in a few more turnovers. I felt like we let a couple of games get away from us this season because we had one too many live ball turnovers which lead to easy points for the other team."

Defensively, Collins-Maxwell yielded the same amount of points as they scored, giving up 55.3 per contest on 42.1% shooting. The Spartans forced 17.5 turnovers per game and outrebounded their foes by an average of 37.7 to 32.9, including 16.3 to 10.9 on the offensive glass.

"Our biggest strength this season by far was offensive rebounding," Fisher said. "We ended up finishing fourth in Class 1A for offensive rebounds per game and seventh in the whole state. It became part of our offensive philosophy knowing that we would have a chance to track it down and get some second, or third chances."

Senior Luke Huntrods, sophomore Josef Dvorak and senior Dane Beattie all averaged in double figures individually for Collins-Maxwell.

Huntrods 13 points, 7.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.5 steals. Dvorak averaged 10.4 points on 51% shooting from the field along with 8.6 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.4 steals and Beattie tallied averages of 10.2 points, 3.4 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 2.0 steals.

Huntrods led the team in 3-pointers (44) and became the school's all-time leader in points (881) and field goals (335). Dvorak set a single-game (14) and season (131) records for offensive rebounds and Beattie hit 34 3-pointers.

Jace Huntrods averaged 7 points, 2.1 rebounds and 2.0 assists, Ethan Haus 6.3 points, 5.7 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 2.0 steals and Ian Beattie 3.0 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.3 assists. Huntrods hit 28 3-pointers and Haus 24 during the season.

Ethan Haus stepped up to average 6.3 points, 5.7 rebounds and 2.8 assists during his senior season for Collins-Maxwell.
Ethan Haus stepped up to average 6.3 points, 5.7 rebounds and 2.8 assists during his senior season for Collins-Maxwell.

Freshman Cooper Wierson averaged 2.9 points and 2.6 rebounds. Austin Hennick average 2.3 points and Kai Decklever 1.5 rebounds.

Next season Collins-Maxwell must find a way to replace the Huntrods brothers, Dane Beattie and Haus. But with Dvorak, Ian Beattie and Wierson back the Spartans hope to finish high in the ISC South and make a run at another winning season in 2023-2024.

"Obviously it is always tough replacing seniors and we had four starters this season, so that is a big task, but we have some solid athletes that will fill out the roster next year," Fisher said. "Year two will certainly provide more consistency and understanding for the athletes and coaches. Josef Dvorak, Ian Beattie and Cooper Wierson got to experience some big varsity minutes this year and will only grow now that they are the focal point of what we want to do. Hopefully we will be able to get Lane Oswalt at full health as well and will have a nice group of others that will compete for varsity minutes."

This article originally appeared on Ames Tribune: Collins-Maxwell achieves first winning season in boys basketball