Woodward’s Lego raises stock, Nixon places second in Winterset
The Hawks returned this week from the holiday hiatus to pick up some key wins to start the new year. (Note: Events covered Jan. 3-8)
Girls Basketball
The current power structure of the WCAC was set on the Tuesday coming out of the break after the Hawks fell 56-32 against Earlham (7-1) despite Grace Deputy recording her sixth double-double. She scored 15 points along with 17 rebounds (her second time rebounding more than she scored).
Propelled by another star three days later, the Hawks won 47-39 at West Central Valley (5-7) after Addie Lego scored a high of 23 points. With a green light all night, she scored on 6-of-7 three-point tries. Of the 63 girls that have made six threes in a single game this year, only one other has matched Lego’s efficiency. And within the conference, only one other player has made more than four threes in a night.
Boys Basketball (4-6)
The Hawks are making an early case starting the year to be a “What If” team.
On Jan. 3, the Hawks lost 45-44 to Earlham (4-3) and then three days later defeated West Central Valley (3-8) 53-50, marking two straight games decided by a single possession.
Holding a single-point lead at halftime at home against Earlham, the Hawks continued to show growth. Dane Polich’s scoring ability lifted him to the top of the chart again with 14 points while Austin Taylor’s length added 11 rebounds and seven blocks- on the verge of being the fourth player in the state to record a block/rebound double-double this season.
That same duo was lit on Friday as Polich scorched the floor with 23 points and 14 rebounds while Taylor grabbed 18 boards. Carter Moran added another 11 rebounds, making Woodward quite possibly the only team in the WCAC to have three players with 10 or more rebounds in a single game this season.
Even so, the Hawks nearly squandered a 16-2 first quarter lead to only win by a single score. Time will tell if it’s a pattern that develops next week with another squeaker.
Wrestling
Fighting alongside big names in the state like Carlisle, Bishop Heelan and Waukee on Saturday, the Hawks placed eighth of 15 schools at the Gary Christensen Invite in Winterset. And continuing to measure against the conference after the league tournament just a few weeks ago, the Hawks’ 87 points were seven points more than the short-handed Van Meter. Woodward scored 111 points last year at the invite for seventh place.
Improving his own status compared to last year’s showing, Peyton Nixon (132 pounds) placed second after taking fourth last year as a junior coming off an injury. This year in the next weight class, he finished 3-1 with a loss to Winterset’s Keegan Jensen who holds a 23-1 record. Nixon stands at 24-2.
Alex Saxton also finished 3-1 for the day but had a loss out of the gate to ADM’s Jacob Alexander, throwing him into the consolation bracket where he defeated three opponents with winning records.
This article originally appeared on Perry Chief: Woodward’s Lego raises stock, Nixon places second in Winterset
