The Tigers started the year slow losing their opening 3 games, and it was coming from quality opponents, Roland Story, Carroll, and ADM have a combined record of 14-1. Regardless all three games were close in the fourth quarter and could have been won by the Tigers.
Hungry for their first win, the Tigers took on North Polk Friday. North Polk reached the semi-final in the state tournament last year and returned some very key pieces so it was not going to be an easy game to take. The Tigers ended up getting the first win in an impressive defensive effort, leading 39-18 at halftime and winning 64-49.
Coach BJ Terrones had this to say about the defensive performance, “Defense was that key to victory on Friday. Making (North Polk) uncomfortable with the basketball, led to some really good opportunities on offense.” Truman Kruckenberg with 18 points and Brody Hauge with 16 led the Tigers offensively in the win. Will Hawthorne with 13 rebounds and Dylan Terry with 8 rebounds, were able to dominate the paint against North Polk’s big, Graedan Sullivan. Defensively the Tigers held North Polk to 21% from three a team that is one of the state's best 3-point shooting teams. Forcing bad shots and turnovers the Tigers were able to dominate the Comets. Also, the Tigers were able to limit all-state guard, Reggie Postel, to only 17 points on 41% shooting from the field.
The Tigers having the first win of the season under their belt, took care of business on Saturday against Mason City. The Riverhawks came in with a 0-4 record and it was a game that was over from the tip. The Tigers got out early leading 48-25 at halftime, and won 90-49. Kruckenburg led the Tigers again scoring 25 points, Hague followed with 14, and Dylan Terry finished one rebound short of a double-double with 12 points.
Putting points on the board has not been a problem for the Tigers early in the season. They rank as the 3rd best offense in 3A averaging 74 points per game. Coach Terrones said this about the offensive improvement this season, “Some of the things that these players have focused on in the offseason, is continuing to play fast.” The success of the offense has come by fastbreak points, and shooting lots of layups in transition. Three players for The Tigers averge in double digits, Truman Kruckenberg, Brody Hague, and Preston Stensland.
The Tigers sit with a 1-2 Racoon River Conference record, with both losses coming to the 2 top teams in the RRC, Carroll and ADM. The RRC is the top conference in 3A, with 7 teams inside the top 16 of the BCMoore rankings. The conference schedule will be a grind for the Tigers and if they want to compete for the conference title, they need to be able to take care against opponents they are expected to beat.
Winterset is 3-3 and 2-2 in the conference but has not played the caliber of teams that the Tigers have played early on. The Huskies did play a good game against Carroll on Tuesday, dropping 50-42 and only trailing by 2 at the start of the fourth quarter.
The Huskies come in with the 10th-ranked defense in 3A, only allowing 49 points per game, and this comes from their notorious 2-3 zone. Similar to Roland Story, Winterset will likely run a 2-3 for the entire game. Coach Terrones said this about what he expects to see from Winterset, “I think that is something Winterset is going to try to focus on, trying to slow down our speed game. It could be a game with a lot of fireworks or it could also be a grind-it-out game.”
Winterset will star three Wilmes brothers all are top 4 scorers for the Huskies. Hayden and Hudson both average in double digits scoring and shoot 35% from three or better. The younger brother, Hank, averages 7 points per game.
A win on Friday would give the Tigers a good chance to compete for the conference title this season.