North girls cruise past East
By Barry Poe | Posted: Friday, December 05, 2008
North is off to a good start in its quest for a fourth straight trip to the Iowa girls state basketball tournament, moving to 3-0 with a convincing 73-39 triumph over city rival East Thursday at North High.
Jalyssa Ceaser led a balanced attack for the Stars in their home opener, tossing in 16 points. Brittni Donaldson added 15 while Erica Denney had 12 points and 13 rebounds. Ashlie Stokes added nine points while Kari Ceaser and Josee Jansen each came off the bench to contribute eight points.
North, ranked No. 2 in Iowa Class 4A, pulled away at the midway point of the second quarter. The Stars of Coach Kirk Walker opened their season last weekend by winning the Heelan Tip-Off Classic with victories over Lawton-Bronson and IKM-Manning, ranked No. 7 in Class 2A.
Brianna Mozer and Ashley Vanderloo, two of the three players with any previous varsity experience for East, led the Black Raiders, now 1-2 overall. Mozer, a 5-10 senior, scored 12 points and grabbed six rebounds while Vanderloo, a University of Iowa softball recruit, tossed in 11 points.
The Stars utilized their ballhawking defense to force 36 turnovers and shot 32 of 69 from the field for 46.3 percent. After outscoring the Black Raiders 18-6 in the final four minutes of the second quarter to take a 37-21 halftime lead, North carried it over into the third quarter, outscoring East 25-6.
Jalyssa Ceaser, a 5-10 senior who played a key role for North's 2007 state championship squad, scored 11 points in the second half. Denney, who also played on the state championship team, had all but two of her points in the first half.
"I thought we played pretty well," said North Coach Kirk Walker. "We missed too many free throws and layups in the first half, but we were getting great shots and I know our kids are going to eventually make 'em.
"Our pressure wore on them. I knew Dan (Pomerenke) would have them ready to play and they played hard in the first half, but our kids played hard in the first half, too. We just couldn't quite get anything to go and when you're missing shots some of the other things don't work out so well, but we made shots in the second half and that's what we have to do."
East came out in full-court pressure and stayed with the Stars in the first quarter, trailing only 11-10 after the opening eight minutes.
"Our goal is to play that way," said East Coach Dan Pomerenke. "We had a chance to get ahead but missed a lot of easy shots that could have made a difference in the game. That run in the last three minutes killed us and that's one of the things we said, do not let them lay it up, we have to get back on defense.
"They're a fast team and we allowed that to happen and all of sudden that got the momentum and buried us. I thought we played a good first half outside the first three minutes and it just carried over from the first half. Hats off to them, they did a good job coming back focused in the second half, but we have to learn from it and grow from there."
East took 30 less shots (39) than the Stars and made 15 for 38.4 percent and was just 9 of 22 from the free throw line. North, though, also struggled from the stripe, hitting 7 of 19.
North hosts West on Saturday while East entertains Hull Western Christian.
EAST (39)
Melissa Mounts 2-5 0-0 4, Brianna Mozer 6-13 0-0 12, Erin Kiel 2-5 3-9 7, Brittney Mozer 0-2 0-2 0, Ashley Vanderloo 3-7 5-6 11, Taylor Michaelson 1-5 0-1 2, Payton Pry 0-0 0-0 0, Abby Pollow 0-1 1-2 1, Micayla Weaver 1-1 0-2 2, Emily Keilman 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 15-39 9-22 39.
NORTH (73)
Erica Denney 6-9 0-5 12, Jalyssa Ceaser 7-9 2-6 16, Ashlie Stokes 4-6 0-0 9, Chelsie Stokes 0-6 0-0 0, Brittni Donaldson 7-11 1-2 15, Kari Ceaser 3-7 2-2 8, Abby Axthlem 0-7 0-0 0, Heather Cook 1-4 0-0 2, Josee Jansen 3-7 1-2 8, Breezy Johnson 0-1 0-0 0, Kayla Lavalais 1-2 1-2 3. Totals 32-69 7-19 73.
East 10 11 8 10 -- 39
North 11 26 25 11 -- 73
3-point shots -- North 2-12 (Jansen 1-3, A. Stokes 1-2, Axthlem 0-4, C. Stokes 0-1, Donaldson 0-1, Cook 0-1). Rebounds -- East 29 (Brianna Mozer 6, Brittney Mozer 6, Kiel 6), North 42 (Denney 13). Turnovers -- East 36, North 22. Total fouls -- East 16, North 19. Fouled out -- None. Officials -- Royce Ranniger, Dave Schonrock, Jim Parrish.
Jalyssa Ceaser led a balanced attack for the Stars in their home opener, tossing in 16 points. Brittni Donaldson added 15 while Erica Denney had 12 points and 13 rebounds. Ashlie Stokes added nine points while Kari Ceaser and Josee Jansen each came off the bench to contribute eight points.
North, ranked No. 2 in Iowa Class 4A, pulled away at the midway point of the second quarter. The Stars of Coach Kirk Walker opened their season last weekend by winning the Heelan Tip-Off Classic with victories over Lawton-Bronson and IKM-Manning, ranked No. 7 in Class 2A.
Brianna Mozer and Ashley Vanderloo, two of the three players with any previous varsity experience for East, led the Black Raiders, now 1-2 overall. Mozer, a 5-10 senior, scored 12 points and grabbed six rebounds while Vanderloo, a University of Iowa softball recruit, tossed in 11 points.
The Stars utilized their ballhawking defense to force 36 turnovers and shot 32 of 69 from the field for 46.3 percent. After outscoring the Black Raiders 18-6 in the final four minutes of the second quarter to take a 37-21 halftime lead, North carried it over into the third quarter, outscoring East 25-6.
Jalyssa Ceaser, a 5-10 senior who played a key role for North's 2007 state championship squad, scored 11 points in the second half. Denney, who also played on the state championship team, had all but two of her points in the first half.
"I thought we played pretty well," said North Coach Kirk Walker. "We missed too many free throws and layups in the first half, but we were getting great shots and I know our kids are going to eventually make 'em.
"Our pressure wore on them. I knew Dan (Pomerenke) would have them ready to play and they played hard in the first half, but our kids played hard in the first half, too. We just couldn't quite get anything to go and when you're missing shots some of the other things don't work out so well, but we made shots in the second half and that's what we have to do."
East came out in full-court pressure and stayed with the Stars in the first quarter, trailing only 11-10 after the opening eight minutes.
"Our goal is to play that way," said East Coach Dan Pomerenke. "We had a chance to get ahead but missed a lot of easy shots that could have made a difference in the game. That run in the last three minutes killed us and that's one of the things we said, do not let them lay it up, we have to get back on defense.
"They're a fast team and we allowed that to happen and all of sudden that got the momentum and buried us. I thought we played a good first half outside the first three minutes and it just carried over from the first half. Hats off to them, they did a good job coming back focused in the second half, but we have to learn from it and grow from there."
East took 30 less shots (39) than the Stars and made 15 for 38.4 percent and was just 9 of 22 from the free throw line. North, though, also struggled from the stripe, hitting 7 of 19.
North hosts West on Saturday while East entertains Hull Western Christian.
EAST (39)
Melissa Mounts 2-5 0-0 4, Brianna Mozer 6-13 0-0 12, Erin Kiel 2-5 3-9 7, Brittney Mozer 0-2 0-2 0, Ashley Vanderloo 3-7 5-6 11, Taylor Michaelson 1-5 0-1 2, Payton Pry 0-0 0-0 0, Abby Pollow 0-1 1-2 1, Micayla Weaver 1-1 0-2 2, Emily Keilman 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 15-39 9-22 39.
NORTH (73)
Erica Denney 6-9 0-5 12, Jalyssa Ceaser 7-9 2-6 16, Ashlie Stokes 4-6 0-0 9, Chelsie Stokes 0-6 0-0 0, Brittni Donaldson 7-11 1-2 15, Kari Ceaser 3-7 2-2 8, Abby Axthlem 0-7 0-0 0, Heather Cook 1-4 0-0 2, Josee Jansen 3-7 1-2 8, Breezy Johnson 0-1 0-0 0, Kayla Lavalais 1-2 1-2 3. Totals 32-69 7-19 73.
East 10 11 8 10 -- 39
North 11 26 25 11 -- 73
3-point shots -- North 2-12 (Jansen 1-3, A. Stokes 1-2, Axthlem 0-4, C. Stokes 0-1, Donaldson 0-1, Cook 0-1). Rebounds -- East 29 (Brianna Mozer 6, Brittney Mozer 6, Kiel 6), North 42 (Denney 13). Turnovers -- East 36, North 22. Total fouls -- East 16, North 19. Fouled out -- None. Officials -- Royce Ranniger, Dave Schonrock, Jim Parrish.
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