ALBANY — In a doubleheader between Albany and Barneveld boys and girls basketball on Friday, Dec. 16, the Comets and Eagles split. Barneveld boys won 57-37, while Albany girls held on for a 53-50 win.
In the boys’ game, the Eagles took an early 2-0 lead, as Trenton Owens beat his defender for a basket. Ethan Koss responded with a 3-pointer from the left side to take the lead. Drew Sertle extended it to 6-2 with his own three.
Barneveld tied the game at six with back-to-back buckets. Koss regained the lead, though, with his second three in as many attempts. Once again, the Eagles tied the game up, as Kasey Helgeson completed a 3-point play at the free-throw line. With subsequent baskets from Helgeson, Barneveld took a 13-9 lead from which it never looked back.
Despite having the lead, the Eagles committed five unanswered fouls, two of which sent Kaden Zurfluh and Koss to the charity stripe where they each made a free throw. With Terek Marx’s third foul, Nate Stokstad went to the line to shoot bonus.
He was unsuccessful, but Brayden Bakken took a charge that kept momentum on the side of Albany. Koss followed the feat up with his third 3-pointer of the game.
The Eagles outscored the Comets 11-4 going into halftime, taking advantage of miscommunication on the defense and Albany turnovers. The Comets held for the last possession, but they were unable to score. Barneveld took a 32-20 lead into the locker room.
In the second, the Eagles began with 12 unanswered points, seven of them from Ryan Gust. Zurfluh scored the first points of the second half for Albany, eight minutes in. The next points came from Sertle after a Comet timeout. Zurfluh and Bakken reversed the ball into the hands of Sertle for a wide-open three.
With two buckets from steals, though, Barneveld extended its lead to 26 — the largest of the game. The remaining points for Albany all came from beyond the arc, as Sertle sank three more and Koss one from deep. Sertle’s final basket cut the deficit to 20-points, as Barneveld won 57-37.
Sertle and Koss combined for 29 of Albany’s 37 points, including nine of 10 Comet 3-pointers. The remaining three came from Bakken, who finished with just three points. On the boards, Sertle grabbed a team-leading six rebounds, followed by Stokstad with five. Gage Roth recorded four rebounds.
Helgeson was the leading scorer for Barneveld with 17 points. Tucker Shipman also scored in double figures with 10 points. Marx grabbed a team-leading five rebounds.
Although Albany made 10 3-pointers to Barneveld’s three, the Eagles bested the Comets in transition points (20-0), points off turnovers (21-7) and points in the paint (44-4).
GIRLS BASKETBALL
ALBANY 53, BARNEVELD 50
ALBANY — Barneveld put Albany to the test, but the Comets prevailed with a 53-50 win on Friday, Dec. 16.
“It was a great game where both teams battled hard,” head coach Derik Doescher said. “Barneveld is greatly improved from last year.”
Early on, Albany suffered mental lapses with an over-and-back and a couple turnovers. With the mistakes, Barneveld was able to tie the game up twice in the first half. The Comets rallied late and took a 27-23 lead into halftime.
Alana Durtschi and Avary Briggs had eight points each in the first half. Durtschi had two baskets, a 3-pointer and one free throw, while Briggs made a shot beyond the arc, completed a 3-point play at the free-throw line and had one bucket. Abby Hollis tallied six first-half points with two baskets from deep, and Gracie Freitag had two buckets with a free throw.
Barneveld outscored Albany 27-26 in the second half, but Durtschi and Hollis’ combined 8-for-8 performance from the free-throw line secured the win.
In the second, Hollis sank two more 3-pointers and was perfect at the free-throw line. Durtschi had one basket with four free-throws, while Briggs was 2-for-2 from the charity stripe. Freitag added four points to her first-half total.
These four were the only players to score for Albany, as Hollis led with 20 points. Durtschi followed with 14 and Briggs 10. Freitag finished with nine. As a team, the Comets were 13-for-18 at the free-throw line for 72%.
Shelbi Marx led Barneveld with 19 points with two 3-pointers. The remaining five scorers did not make double figures. The Eagles shot less than 50% at the charity stripe, going 6-for-13.
With the win, Albany remains undefeated at 9-0. Three players have averaged over ten points to begin the season: Hollis (16.0), Durtschi (12.2) and Freitag (10.8). Based on statistics in Wissports, all three are in the top five scorers for the Six Rivers East Conference, including Iz Durst of Barneveld (11.1) and Raylin Peterson of Black Hawk (8.8).
“Our girls are a very tight-knit group that plays very unselfishly,” Doescher said. “They are the true definition of a team and pick each other up on and off the floor.”
ALBANY 68, ARGYLE 22
ARGYLE — The Comets recorded their first conference win over the Orioles on Thursday, Dec. 15.
Albany limited Argyle to just six points in the first half while scoring 45. Hollis led the Comets with 17 first-half points, including two 3-pointers. McKenna Broughton also drained two threes. For the Orioles, Jaylin Hartwig scored all six points.
Argyle rallied in the second for 16 points, but by that time it was too late. Hartwig scored another seven points, while Sara Helfvogt, Mya McNett, Brinley Meinert, Hannah Gierhart and Lexi Wonders chipped in two each.
Briggs, who was scoreless in the first, scored four in the second. Freitag scored two points in the first and added eight points in the second half.
Hartwig scored 13 of Argyle’s 22 points with two 3-pointers and a 3-for-4 performance at the free-throw line. Conversely, seven different players scored for Albany, with Hollis leading them all. She scored 17 points with two 3-pointers. Broughton, who finished with 14 points, also sank two 3-pointers. Durtschi, the third player in double figures with 11 points, also made a 3-point basket.
