Dry spells doom Marshalltown girls
By MARK PAWLAKArticle Photos
Fact Box
Southeast Polk 57, Marshalltown 27
At Marshalltown
SOUTHEAST POLK (1-0) - Chelsie Krull 6-13 2-3 19, Ashley Evans 1-5 0-0 3, Lindsey Van Wyk 3-4 2-2 8, Megan Nelson 0-3 0-0 0, Emily Guenther 7-11 2-2 19, Whitney Van Wyk 1-1 0-0 2, Stephanie Bell 1-3 2-2 4, Brooke Michael 0-0 0-2 0, Jessica McNeece 1-2 0-0 2, Coleen Tanyag 0-0 0-0 0, Sara Snead 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS 20-42 8-11 57.
MARSHALLTOWN (0-1) - Emily Hunt 0-4 0-0 0, Tara Hay 1-12 2-2 4, Mady Van Metre 2-7 0-0 6, Taylor Gaffney 2-3 0-0 4, Lauren Lockhart 5-9 1-4 11, Allison Gimbel 0-1 0-0 0, Emily Allison 1-2 0-0 2, Bria Devine 0-1 0-0 0, Nicole Peschong 0-0 0-0 0, Maira Schaumburg 0-2 0-0 0. TOTALS 11-41 3-6 27.
SEP18131412-57
MHS10962-27
3-Point Shooting - SEP 9-23 (Krull 5-11, Guenther 3-6, Evans 1-3, Nelson 0-3); MHS 2-14 (Van Metre 2-5, Allison 0-1, Devine 0-1, Hunt 0-3, Hay 0-4).
Southeast Polk went from warm to warmer.
A Marshalltown team that went from cold to even colder had no chance of keeping up.
The Rams, ranked 15th in the IGHSAU preseason poll, rolled to a 57-27 victory over Marshalltown to open the girls' basketball season Tuesday at the Roundhouse.
Southeast Polk got 19 points apiece from Chelsie Krull and Emily Guenther to crash the debut of Bobcats' first-year head coach Tim Johnson.
Krull led the Rams' sizzling 3-point shooting as she was 5 of 11 on the night.
As a team, Southeast Polk shot 12 of 25 from the field in the first half (48 percent) and followed with 8 of 16 in the second half (50 percent).
Marshalltown was at the other end of the shooting spectrum. After a solid first half in which the Bobcats were 8 of 19 from the field (42 percent), they dipped to only 14 percent in the second half (3 of 22).
"That shooting percentage differential will kill you every time," Johnson said.
"You can't take anything away from what Southeast Polk did," he added. "They played great defense and made us take some quick shots."
Seventeen of the Rams' 25 shots from the field in the opening half were 3-pointers. The accuracy of Krull and Guenther helped Southeast Polk take a 31-19 lead into the half.
Three scoring droughts cost the Bobcats.
Marshalltown led 7-5 before going scoreless for 4 minutes as the Rams surged ahead 18-7.
Five minutes without scoring to start the second quarter put the Bobcats in a 26-10 hole.
Taylor Gaffney's basket early in the third quarter had the Bobcats within 10 at 35-25, but Marshalltown did not score in the next 8 minutes. A pair of Krull 3-pointers in the span of a minute quickly opened up the margin.
"We got it down to 10 coming out of halftime and then we stopped scoring," Johnson said.
Krull was 5-of-11 from 3-point range and Guenther went 3-of-6 as Southeast Polk was 9-of-23 as a team.
"Krull came out and hit two early to get them going," Johnson said. "She was on fire. They had nine 3s in the game and that's 27 points alone."
Guenther, a senior who has signed to play at South Dakota next year, was 7-of-11 overall from the field and had five rebounds.
Lauren Lockhart paced the Bobcats with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
Mady Van Metre added six points on a pair of 3-pointers, while Gaffney and Tara Hay had four apiece.
Hay, a senior guard that was the team's leading scorer last year, finished 1-of-12 shooting from the field.
"Their defense was there, but of her shots, most were pretty decent looks," Johnson said. "They just weren't falling tonight."
Marshalltown also was hurt by 17 turnovers, while the Rams turned the ball over seven times.
Next up for the Bobcats is a trip to Des Moines Lincoln Saturday for a 4 p.m. tipoff.
"There's still a lot to learn," Johnson said. "There's no lack of enthusiasm, we can't wait to get back in the gym and look to Lincoln."
Tuesday's junior varsity game went to Southeast Polk 35-24. Nicole Peschong led Marshalltown with 10 points.
