CVC Boys Basketball

Cedar Valley boys exit to standing ovation

LONE TREE - They won 13 games, reached the second round of the state playoffs and gave the 10th-ranked team in the state a real scare Tuesday night.

All in all, Cedar Valley Christian enjoyed its first season as a member of the Iowa High School Athletic Association.

The Huskies made a spirited rally Tuesday before falling to Lone Tree, 76-63, in the Class 1A district semifinals at Lone Tree.

When it ended, the several hundred CVC fans who made the trek gave the Huskies a standing ovation. And the Huskies, standing on the court with Coach Jeff Pospisil, returned the applause and pointed to the crowd in appreciation.

"We're a small school, but we're all close to each other. We support each other," said junior Jeremy Strutz, who sparked a second-half rally with a flurry of baskets.

Cedar Valley trailed by 18 points early in the third quarter, but the Huskies pulled within seven points in the last three minutes of the game and made Lone Tree nervous.

The Huskies (13-10) scored only 15 points in the first half, then torched the nets for 48 in the second half. "We challenged them to go out and play with guts, and they did," said Pospisil, summarizing his halftime oration.

Bryan Forbes stood between Cedar Valley and an upset victory. The Lone Tree junior poured in 38 points despite missing several stretches with foul trouble.

"That number 55 is just tough. He's just a really, really tough player," said Pospisil.

Forbes averages 19 points, but he doubled that against the Huskies with nine field goals and a 17-for-20 performance at the foul line. He scored inside and outside and was too much to handle.

Strutz led the Huskies with 15 points. Jon Landis scored 14 points and Will Muhlbach finished with 13 despite twisting his ankle. Landis tossed in four 3-pointers, including three in the second half to help fuel the rally.

Cedar Valley Christian switched from the Northern Illinois Christian Conference to the Iowa High School Athletic Association this year and proved it can play with IHSAA clubs.

"I feel like we've done really well for the first year," said Strutz. "We played 19 road games. It's tough to play on the road, in other people's gyms where they play all the time and where they practice and where they have the fans.

"I feel we played really well and next year should be better."

Cedar Valley began the season with an 82-61 loss at Lone Tree, then played much better in the rematch Tuesday. "They've improved a great deal," said Lone Tree Coach Tom Squiers. "They knocked down some shots and made a really nice run at us."

The Huskies had four juniors and only one senior in the starting lineup. Their three leading scorers Tuesday - Strutz, Landis and Muhlbach - are all juniors. So is Spencer Zielke, who started and hit a pair of 3-pointers.

Cedar Valley will lose seniors David Sperling, Nick Henderson and Luke Long from the rotation, but will have a strong nucleus for next year's team.

"We get another year with these guys," said Pospisil. "We're looking forward to that."

Cedar Valley learned Tuesday that it likely will become a member of the Tri-Rivers Conference for the 2013-14 school year, which will correct the imbalance of road games. The Huskies scrambled to put a schedule together this season and got a grand tour of eastern Iowa.

"I'm proud of these guys," said Pospisil.

Lone Tree (20-3) will play Iowa Mennonite in the district finals Thursday night.

CEDAR VALLEY (63): Henderson 3 0-0 6, Zielke 2 0-0 6, Koch 0 0-0 0, Long 0 1-2 1, Landis 5 0-0 14, Muhlbach 6 1-2 13, Strutz 5 3-6 15, Sperling 4 0-0 8. Totals 25 5-10 63.

LONE TREE (76): L. Forbes 0 0-0 0, Larew 2 6-6 10, Lorack 3 0-2 8, Sieverding 0 2-6 2, Dodson 4 2-3 11, Gosnell 1 2-2 5, Quigley 1 0-0 2, B. Forbes 9 17-20 38. Totals 20 29-39 76.

Halftime - Lone Tree 29, Cedar Valley 15. 3-point goals - Cedar Valley 8 (Landis 4, Zielke 2, Strutz 2), Lone Tree 7 (Forbes 3, Lorack 2, Dodson 1, Gosnell 1). Fouled out - Zielke, Landis.

Cedar Valley Christian notches 1st tourney win

Quickness and athleticism were the keys for  the Cedar Valley Christian boys Thursday night at Marion.

The Huskies overcame a seven-point deficit midway through the third quarter and swept to a 72-60 victory over Alburnett in a boys Class 1A District tournament basketball game.

The Huskies took advantage of their quickness to pressure the Pirates into turnovers that resulted in lay ups. CVC only made four shots that weren’t taken in the lane.  The Huskies rode a 32-13 run to the final buzzer.

“They were a little rattled because they had never played a tournament game before,” said Cedar Valley Coach Jeff Pospisil.  “We made some lazy passes in the second quarter and didn’t take care of the ball.  Then in the third quarter we realized that they were slower and a little tired and at that point, we took charge.”

Cedar Valley (13-9) was playing its first tournament game in the Iowa high school basketball series. The Huskies are in their first year of membership in the Iowa High School Athletic Association and Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union.

The win advances Cedar Valley Christian to the district semifinals Tuesday at Lone Tree (19-2). Lone Tree beat Highland, 79-42.

Cedar Valley had four players in double figures.  Jeremy Strutz led all scores with 22, Will Muhlbach had 17, and Nick Henderson and Jon Landis contributed 12 and 11, respectively.  Strutz and Landis each knocked down a couple of 3-point shots, and everything else was going to the hoop.  All of Muhlbach’s points came from box to box in the lane.

“We seemed to lose our focus in the first half, but once we talked over our strategy at halftime we went out and took advantage of them,” said Strutz.  “Our press had good intensity and trapping created a lot of easier baskets for us.”

“I have the easy part,” said Muhlbach.  “I just cut, catch the pass, and put it in.  At first the game was a little nerve-racking, but once we executed and went to the basket we were fine."

Alec Philipp led the Pirates with 21 and Karsten Wright chipped in 17. Alburnett put up 27 second quarter points but lacked offensive consistency much of the rest of the game.

ALBURNETT (60) Runninghawk 2 3-5 7, Freeland 2 0-0 5, Frederick 1 0-0 3, Wright 8 1-2 17, Philipp 8 2-4 21, Long 1 2-2 5, Dierks 1 0-0 2, Rose 0 0-0 0, Sorenen 0 0-0 0. Totals 23 8-13 60.

CEDAR VALLEY CHRISTIAN (72) Long 1 0-0 2, Sperling 3 2-6 8, Muhlbach 8 1-4 17, Strutz 7 6-8 22, Landis 4 1-2 11, Henderson 6 0-1 12, Zielke 0 0-0 0, Koch 0 0-0 0. Totals 29 10-21 72.

Halftime - Alburnett 36, Cedar Valley Christian 33. 3-point goals - Alburnett 6 (Freeland 1, Fredeerick 1, Philipp 3, Long 1), CVC 4 (Strutz 2, Landis 2).  Fouled out -  Frederick.

Cedar Valley boys fall in overtime

LISBON - The Cedar Valley Christian boys basketball team ended the regular season with a tough loss Tuesday night.

Lisbon trumped the Huskies, 68-57, in overtime to leave Cedar Valley with a 12-9 record heading into the postseason tournament next week.

"My guys played their hearts out and executed the game plan very well," CVC Coach Jeff Pospisil reported.

Jeremy Strutz poured in 25 points for the Huskies and Nick Henderson scored 10.

Ben Knake topped Lisbon (15-6) with 25 points. Skylar Ellerbach netted 13 points and Jake Hendricks had 10.

Cedar Valley will face Alburnett in the opening round of the Class 1A district tournament on Thursday, Feb. 16 at Marion High School.

CEDAR VALLEY (57): Henderson 2 6-6 10, Landis 0 1-2 1, Muhlbach 3 3-5 9, Sperling 3 2-4 8, Strutz 8 7-10 25, Zielke 1 2-2 4. Totals 17 21-29 57.

LISBON (68): Bahl 3 0-0 9, Ellerbach 4 3-4 13, Knake 10 3-6 25, Dougherty 1 0-0 3, Griffiths 0 2-2 2, Springsteen 2 2-5 6, Hendricks 5 0-5 10. Totals 25 10-22 68.

Halftime - Cedar Valley 24, Lisbon 23. Regulation - Cedar Valley 53, Lisbon 53. 3-point goals - Cedar Valley 2 (Strutz 2), Lisbon 8 (Bahl 3, Ellerbach 2, Knake 2, Dougherty 1).

Inspired Huskies romp past Regents, 64-49

For the past four years, the Cedar Valley boys have played with the creed “Team Long Live Strong.”

That was when current senior Luke Long was diagnosed with testicular cancer. Six weeks later his father, Anthony, was told he had terminal kidney cancer.

Luke survived. His dad died at the age of 56 on Jan. 30, 2010.

In memory of Tony Long near the anniversary of his death and in honor of Luke on his last home game, Cedar Valley players and fans Saturday night once again donned the “Team Long Live Strong” t-shirts they had not worn in a couple of years.

Whether or not it provided extra inspiration, the Huskies played perhaps their most complete game of the year in a 64-49 romp over Waterloo Christian.

And it came the night after Cedar Valley (12-8) lost at Calamus Wheatland, 73-53.

“I thought we self-destructed Friday,” Huskies Coach Jeff Pospisil said.  “It was good to see us bounce back after a disappointed loss. That shows a lot of character.

“Tonight, we got a decisive win over a good team. We took care of the ball and controlled the game.”

While the Regents from Waterloo ( 7-13) stuck around early, the Huskies turned on the after-burners in the second quarter.

Ahead 25-19 midway through the period, Cedar Valley scored eight straight and then added four more after a Waterloo basket to take a 37-21 halftime lead.

In the surge, the Huskies got points from all five starters: seniors Long and David Sperling, and juniors Jeremy Strutz, Jon Landis and Spencer Zielke.

“We came out with fire in the belly, and guns a blazin’,” said Long.  “We really like to plan an up-tempo game if we can.”

Pospisil agreed, but said lack of team depth sometimes forces his squad to slow the action so as not to wear out.

“If we could, we’d play pressure defense and run all the time,” he siad.

Running out of gas was no problem Saturday night.

With a balanced attack, the Huskies kept pouring it on and led by 23 after sharpshooter Strutz hit a long 3-pointer at the buzzer to end the third quarter.  From there, it was mop-up time.

It ended with two alley-oop passes to junior Will Muhlbach for dunk attempts, but the popular big man had to settle for a meek lay-up.

Cedar Valley closes the regular season at Lisbon on Tuesday, then opens district play with a “home” game at Marion High against Alburnett on Thursday, Feb. 16.

Pospisil said to host a tournament game, the gym must hold at least 400 spectators. The Huskies can only accommodate about 300.

“But that’s alright,” Pospisil said. “Marion’s got a nice gym, and the folks out there are very nice.”

WATERLOO CHRISTIAN (49): Peter Bernstrom 1 0-0 2, Chris Doering 4 2-2 11, John Stone 1 0-0 2, Aaron Mazzarella 3 0-0 7, Lucas Segerstrom 4 0-0 12, Matt Gillen 0 0-0 0, Levi Smith 1 0-0 2, Ryan Wynthein 3 1-1 7, Tim Swanson 0 0-0 0, Sam Delagardelle 0 0-0 0, Danny Hall 1 2-2 4, Isaiah Armbrecht 0 2-2 2. Totals 18 7-7 49.

CEDAR VALLEY CHRISTIAN (64): Luke Long 2 0-0 4, David Sperling 5 2-3 12, Jeremy Strutz 5 0-0 13, Jon Landis 4 3-5 13, Spencer Zielke 2 1-3 6, Nick Henderson 1 1-2 3, Will Muhlbach 6 1-2 13, Evan Koch 0 0-0 0. Totals 25 8-15 64.

Halftime – Cedar Valley 37, Waterloo 21. 3-point goals – Waterloo 6 (Segerstrom 4, Doering, Mazzarella), Cedar Valley 6 (Strutz 3, Landis 2, Zielke). Total fouls – Waterloo 19, Cedar Valley 10. Fouled out – Stone, Segerstrom.