Van Meter’s Boese wins WCAC title, boys basketball tops Madrid
(Note: Events covered Dec. 12-18)
Boys Basketball (5-1)
After a hard loss ending last week, the Bulldogs bounced back with two strong wins to establish themselves as leaders in the WCAC.
Squaring off with Madrid (3-2) led by the conference’s leading scorer Toryn Severson, Van Meter diced its way to a 62-59 win to keep its win streak over the Tigers alive. The Bulldogs have now won 19 straight games over Madrid extending back to 2011.
Keeping Severson in check to a season-low 16 points, the Bulldogs were led by Cael Trudo’s 17 points and another 10 from Aydn Netten. And while the Tigers were the more efficient shooters, making 44 percent of their shots including 9-of-20 three-pointers compared to the Bulldogs’ 3-of-18 rate, the Bulldogs proved more disciplined.
At the end of the night, the Tigers managed to steal just one ball and force just six turnovers despite blocking 13 of the Bulldogs’ shots. Giving the ultimate edge, the Bulldogs forced 16 turnovers led by John Braun’s three steals.
Momentum carried into Van Meter’s road trip to Earlham (3-2) three days later for a 53-44 win. Netten was at the top of his game with 13 points and Carter Durflinger fitting in another 12 ice out put an end to the Cardinals’ win streak.
Girls Basketball (2-5)
Wins came as a pair for the Bulldogs following their road victory in Pleasantville last week. Returning to their home floor on Dec. 13, Van Meter shoved Madrid (2-5) back onto the bus with a 51-29 win.
Nearly grabbing her first career double-double, Finely Netten was good for 10 points and eight rebounds. She only trailed Teya Speltz on the scoresheet who had 15 points after making 6-of-8 shots.
But the Bulldogs’ foot came off the pedal on Friday night on the road against conference leader Earlham (5-1) in a 59-32 loss.
Netten was once again a top contributor with 16 points and improved her efficiency as she made half of her shots including 3-of-6 from three-point range. And Speltz was on the verge of a double-double with eight points and nine rebounds. But with the Cardinals boasting three players scoring double digits, the momentum belonged to the home crew.
Wrestling
Over at the fieldhouse at West Central Valley, with 84 points, Van Meter placed ninth of nine teams at the WCAC tournament on Saturday. But with only five wrestlers on the roster, the Bulldogs were pound-for-pound one of the most accomplished crews.
Keeping the team engaged from start to finish, Jackson Boese (182 pounds) tore through his three rounds of action as he went 3-0 with a win that took all of 49 seconds and then two major decisions against opponents with a combined record of 24-5 this season. With his dominant performance, Boese stands at 13-2 this season.
Coming in second place, Mason Drake (138) went 2-1 after narrowly losing the title round against Woodward-Granger’s Peyton Nixon. Though he also picked up his 100th wrestling victory during the conference tournament. Quinn Arellano (106) and Easton Padilla (145) each placed third and Eli Halfpap (195) took sixth place.
This article originally appeared on Dallas County News: Van Meter’s Boese wins WCAC title, boys basketball tops Madrid
