ACGC Girls Fall to Fourth Ranked Nodaway Valley, 66-39

It did not take very long for the ACGC girls' basketball team and its fans to discover why the Nodaway Valley girls are ranked fourth in class 2A. The Wolverines jumped out to a 10-0 lead in the first four minutes of the game on its way to a 66-37 win in Greenfield last Monday. The Chargers committed no fewer that eight turnovers in the first quarter which led directly to several NV scores and 14-4 lead at quarter's end.

"We came out slow and not aggressive enough," Charger coach Brad Baudler said regarding the initial quarter's performance by his team. Baudler, who is an alumnus of Nodaway Valley, went on to say, "At the end of the day we need to make easy baskets and come out of the gates quicker."

The Chargers totaled five field goals in the first half while the Wolverines increased their lead to 32-15 by the intermission. The visitors' shooting woes continued when they experienced a scoring drought that lasted for nearly five minutes to start the second half.

When Alaina Bunde made two free throws at the 3:13 mark of the third quarter, the home team had increased its lead to 45-17. ACGC managed to score on three consecutive possessions late in the quarter on a three pointer by Saige O"Brien and a pair deuces by EmmaKay McClain to make the score 49-25 through three quarters.

The fourth quarter was much the same, with NV outscoring the Chargers 17-12 in the final frame to come up with the 66-37 final. The twelve points scored by ACGC was its best quarterly output of the game. The twenty nine point loss is the most lopsided of the season, and leaves the Chargers with a overall record of 10 wins and 8 losses. NV improved its season record to 18-0.

"We showed some fight in the third quarter as we drove the ball more and attacked the basket. They are a good team, but we are closer than what the score indicated," was Baudler's concluding assessment of the game.

McClain led the Charger scoring with 17 points, with Bunde and O'Brien coming up with 7 each. Unofficial statistics indicate that the Chargers made 11 shots out of 38 attempts for 29% and 10 of 17 free throws for 59%.

Score by quarter:

ACGC 4 11 10 12--37

NV 14 18 17 17--66