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The
Official Newspaper of Manchester and Delaware County, Iowa
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
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One special moment for one very special lady
by Ken Boesenberg
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Forget the score, forget the imagined consequence of a win or loss for either team. Instead take with you one of the most fulfilling moments you’ll ever witness in high school sports.
That moment belonged to Tammy Hood as she calmly drained a three-point basket with five seconds left in the Hawks seven-point loss to Benton Community last Friday night in Manchester.
I doubt that there has been anyone that has literally bled West Delaware black and orange more deeply than Tammy.
West Delaware basketball coach Corey Coates called a time out to get Tammy into the game. She came across the top of the key to a spot just outside the three-point line near the baseline.
Junior Kayla Bries tossed Tammy the ball and she never hesitated, up it went coming down touching nothing but net.
You couldn’t have scripted that play any better.
There was an awful lot of class displayed during that 10 to 12 second stretch of basketball.
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West Delaware’s’ Tammy Hood exchanges a high-five with team manager Madison Coates after the Hawks game with Benton Community last Friday night in Manchester. Tammy brought the crowd to its feet when she knocked down a three-point goal in the waning seconds of the Hawks 63-56 loss to the Bobcats. |
Head Coach Corey Coates demonstrated why he gets so much out of his what amounts to a handful of girls. There are less of his caliber around than one would like to think.
The Benton Community coaching staff and players that were on the floor showed as much class as I have ever seen.
They gave one young lady a chance to live a dream, a dream that came true. For that they should be commended for.
If you didn’t have a tear in your eye when that ball went through the hoop.....I’m not sure your human.
Oh, yes there was 35 minutes and 48 seconds of action before Tammy’s shot.
The Hawks did end up losing the game by 7-points, 66-59 to a very good Benton Community Bobcat team in overtime.
The Hawks and Bobcats showed just how basketball can be a game of runs and momentum swings.
Junior Ashley Hood kept the Hawks in the game during the first quarter by splashing down back-to-back three’s in a span of 15 seconds to give the Hawks a 15-10 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Ashley finished the game with 17 points, 15 of them coming from behind the arc.
The Hawks took an 18-12 lead early in the period and led 21-15 with 6:13 to go. However, the Bobcats scored 12 straight points to take a 27-21 lead. Katie Wessels, who led the Hawks with 20 points before fouling out, hit a short jumper just before the buzzer sounded to cut the Bobcat lead to 27-23 at the half.
The second half started with the two teams trading baskets for the first six minutes of the quarter.
With 2:02 left in the third the Bobcats held a 37-33 lead.
A basket by Katie Wessels and another long three-point basket by Ashley Hood gave the Hawks their first lead since midway through the second quarter, 38-37.
Emily Heffernen knocked down a short jumper with 30 seconds left in the period to give the Hawks a three point lead at 40-37.
Benton scored the last basket of the quarter to leave the Hawks clinging to a slim one point lead, 40-39.
Katie Wessels scored the Hawks first five points of the fourth quarter forging West Delaware out to a 45-39 lead with 6:38 left.
Benton Community then rattled of six straight points to tie the score at 45-45.
The teams traded baskets before the Bobcats scored on a pair of close range jumpers to grab a four point lead, 53-49 with 1:45 left in the game.
Ashley Hood then knocked down three-pointer number five to cut the Benton lead to a single point.
Following a Benton made free throw to push the lead back to two points Katie Wessels countered with a point blank jumper to tie the score at 54-54 with 43 seconds left.
That’s where regulation would end and it was on to the four minute overtime.
The Bobcats were able make their free throws, eight of them over the final 1:56 to build a 10 point lead, 66-56.
Tammy Hoods three-point basket in the waning seconds made the final score 66-57.
Game stats
vs. Benton Community
FG’s - WD 23-63-37%, BC 24-53-45%; FT’s - WD 6-14-43%, BC 14-23-61%; assists - WD 19 (Conrad 2, J. Hood 6, A. Hood 7, Heffernen 2, Bries 2); rebounds - WD 32 (Wessels 9, Conrad 7, J. Hood 4, Heffernen 10, Bries 2); BC 41; blocked shots - WD 5 (Wessels 1, Conrad 2, Heffernen 2); steals - WD 10 (Wessels 4, Conrad 1, A. Hood 2, Heffernen 2, Bries 1); individual Hawk scoring g- Katie Wessels 20, Sam Conrad 6, Jenny Hood 5, Ashley Hood 17, Emily Heffernen 8, Tammy Hood 3.
Saturday afternoon saw the Hawks travel to Western Dubuque for a make up game with the Bobcats. The game had been canceled last Tuesday night due the bad weather conditions.
In a battle of a pair of teams that had played overtime contests the night before the Hawks prevailed 59-46 over the Bobcats.
Not usually a real fast starting team, the Hawks jumped out to a 21-6 lead at the end of the first quarter and upped that to 20-points by halftime, 35-15.
West Delaware had three players score in double figures, Katie Wessels and Sam Conrad each scored 12 while Jenny Hood tossed in 11.
Ashley Hood had just 5 points but dished out a team high 12 assists. Conrad led the Hawks in rebounding with an even dozen.
Coach Corey Coates went to his bench early and often in the second half with the Hawks enjoying a double digit lead.
Kayla Vaske and Joslyn Sailer combined to contribute 8 points off the bench for the victorious Hawks who are now 15-5.
Game stats
vs. Western Dubuque
FG’s - Hawks 21-39-54%, Bobcats 18-61-30%; FT’s - Hawks 12-16-75%, Bobcats 4-10-40%; assists - Hawks 22 (Conrad 1, J. Hood 7, A. Hood 12, Heffernen 1, Bries 1); rebounds - Hawks 34 (Wessels 7, Conrad 12, J. Hood 4, A. Hood 2, Heffernen 5, Bries 3, Vaske 1); blocked shots - Hawks 6 (Wessels 2, Heffernen 3, Vaske 1); steals - Hawks 3 (A. Hood 2, Heffernen 1); individual Hawk scoring - Katie Wessels 12, Sam Conrad 12, Jenny Hood 11, Ashley Hood 5, Emily Heffernen 8, Kayla Bries 3, Joslyn Sailer 3, Kayla Vaske 5.
The Hawks played their last regular season game at DeWitt Central last night (Monday) and will start tournament play on Thursday night at Epworth against WaMaC Conference opponent Western Dubuque. |
Hawks struggle at Benton Community
by Ken Boesenberg |
On last Thursday night the West Delaware Hawk boys basketball team traveled to Van Horne for an important WaMaC Conference tilt with the Bobcats.
The Hawks suffered from a cold shooting night as they fell to the Bobcats, 53-45.
Benton Community scored the first points of the game on a three-point shot by Adam Rathje.
The Hawks countered with junior BJ Hermsen converting a pair of free throws and dropping in a long three-point basket for a 5-3 Hawk lead.
Benton led 8-7 at the end of the first quarter, Hermsen accounted for all seven Hawk points. He would score 26 for the game to lead all scorers.
The Hawks scored the first four points of the second quarter on a basket by Hermsen and a pair of free throws by junior guard Chris Crawford to take an 11-8 lead.
The Bobcats tied the game at 11 and at 13 before Hermsen connected on his second three-pointer of the game to give West Delaware a 16-13 lead with 5:08 left in the first half.
That would be the last time that the Hawks would lead in the contest as Benton Community scored the next seven points to take a 23-16 lead with 3:00 left in the quarter.
Senior Austin Cole cut the lead to five points with a pair of free throws at the 2:07 mark. The Hawks would not score again over the final two minutes of the first half as Benton Community took a 28-18 lead into the lockerroom at the half. |
West Delaware junior, Lucas Kafer goes for the steal against a Benton Community player during the Hawks 53-46 loss to the Bobcats last Thursday night in Van Horne.
The Hawks Phil Keppler (#1) stops a Benton Community Bobcat player from making a pass while the Hawks Matt Waterman also helps out defensively. The Hawks have three regular season games remaining before starting tournament play at home on Monday, February 26th against Oelwein. |
West Delaware was able to cut the Bobcat lead of 10 points in half over the first two minutes of the third quarter.
BJ Hermsen knocked down a short jumper, Phil Keppler hit a baseline jumper and a pair of Hermsen free throws pulled the Hawks to within five points, 29-24 with 6:06 left in the period.
The Hawks could manage just five more points over the last six minutes of the quarter while Benton Community tossed in nine to take a 38-29 lead.
The Bobcats held the Hawks to without a field goal for the first four minutes of the fourth quarter to build a 44-31 lead.
The final four minutes belonged to West Delaware as they put 14 points up but could not get closer than four points at 50-46 before losing 53-46.
West Delaware scoring vs. Benton Community
BJ Hermsen 26, Chris Crawford 2, Ben Lechtenberg 4, Austin Cole 6, Phil Keppler 5, Matt Rolfes 2.
The Class 3A District basketball parings have been released by Iowa High School Athletic Association.
The Hawks will host a first round game against Oelwein on Monday, Feb. 26, at 7:00 p.m. The winner of that game will take on the winner of the Waukon vs. Decorah game. That second round game will be played in Fayette at Upper Iowa University on Thursday, March 1st starting at 7:00 p.m. for the District 5 championship.
The district 5 winner will square off against the district 6 champion for the right to go to the state tournament.
District 6 has Waverly-Shell Rock hosting New Hampton on Monday, Feb. 26th in the top half of the bracket and Charles City hosting Crestwood also on Feb. 26th.
Those two winners will meet at Luther College in Decorah on Thursday, March 1st.
The sub-state final will be held at the McLeod Center in Cedar Falls on Tuesday, March 6th, with tip off schedule for 6:30 p.m. |
109
E. Delaware - P.O. Box 245 - Manchester, Iowa 52057
563-927-2020 / FAX 563-927-4945
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Manchester Press 2005-2006
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