Chargers Hit the Road and Defeat Roadrunners, 62-43

A strong third quarter helped "seal the deal" for the ACGC boys' basketball team in a road win at Interstate 35 of Truro on Friday night. After a big first frame in which the Chargers scored twenty two points, the Roadrunners reduced the deficit to six points at 32-26 by halftime and it was still anybody's ball game.

Better than 50% shooting by I-35 in the first half kept it interesting. ACGC also shot well, hitting twelve of twenty five first half shots which included six three pointers. Brock Littler led the Charger scoring with ten first half points, six of which came from beyond the arc.

A big third quarter for the Chargers broke the game open when ACGC outscored its host,19-5. Two treys by Jedd Weinkoetz and five points each from Miles Kading and Ben Marsh paced the Chargers. The teams essentially played evenly in the fourth quarter to arrive at the nineteen point win for ACGC.

Unofficial statistics show the Chargers connecting on 22 of 54 field goal tries for 41% which included 11 of 23 from three point range. They were 7 of 12 from the free throw line for 58%. Balanced scoring was a key to the Charger offensive game. Four Chargers scored in double figures, with Miles Kading leading the foursome with 14 points. Ben Marsh tallied 12, and Littler and Weinkoetz each netted 11. Eight points from Anthony Solorzano and six from Noah Kading rounded out the scoring.

"We had good balanced scoring," Coach Lance Kading said in reference to the numerous players who contributed to score the team's sixty two points. "The guys are figuring out how to find an advantage and attack..

"And when the defense rotates to help, they find the next guy that has an advantage. We are at our best when we have confidence in each other and keep pressure on the defense by forcing multiple rotations."

The victory improves the team's overall record to thirteen wins and four losses which includes a conference mark of 9-3. The team is battling for third place in the WCAC along with Panorama and Madrid. With four conference games remaining on the schedule (including the season finale with Madrid), the Chargers need to win all four to guarantee a third place finish behind Van Meter and Des Moines Christian. Should ACGC lose one of the four remaining games, third place is up for grabs.

Score by quarter:

ACGC 22 10 19 11--62

I-35 13 13 5 12--43

ACGC statistics: (TP-REB-ASTS-STLS) Marsh(12-3-3-4) Solorzano(8-4-0-0) Mkading(14-4-5-1) Littler(11-4-5-1) Weinkoetz(11-6-0-0) Bunde(0-3-1-0) NKading(6-3-2-1)