An Independent Newspaper Serving the Athletes of the

Springville Schools and Area Community

Wednesday, February 17, 2016 Volume 6>>Issue 26> An Independent newspaper serving Springville, Iowa

“If You Want A Happy Ending, That Depends Of Course On Where You Stop Your Story”

~ Orson Welles

ORIOLE PRIDE

BOYS CAN’T HANG ON— SEASON ENDS ON THE ROAD

You have to love the post season. Throw out the record books and play the game. Springville travelled to Midland on Monday to square off against the Bellevue Comets, a team that on paper, looked pretty similar to the O’s. Wearing their home whites, on the road in a rival gym, the guys looked poised and aggressive. The first two quarters of the game showcased an Oriole squad playing its best basketball. Falling behind initially, 8-0, they came back and started to answer, trailing just 13-7 after the first quarter. A huge, 21 point second quarter in which the O’s outscored the visitors by 8 propelled them to a 28-26 half time lead. “How we shot in the first half is what we expected all year when we hit seven 3's” said Coach Merritt. Junior JP Kane returned to the floor after missing the past 2 weeks with a knee injury and the shooter wasted no time in establishing himself—he hit 3 of those 7 treys in the first half. “We had a pretty strong feeling that we'd see man to man in the 2nd half which we did, unfortunately, we didn't handle the intensity of that man to man well enough and they converted our mistakes pretty easily” said Merritt. The Comets had their run in the third and led the Orioles 46-36 headed into the final quarter. Springville pulled within 6 with just under three minutes to play but would get no closer and the O’s ended their season in a 62-47 loss. Cavanaugh Riley led with 13 points and 3 assists while JP Kane had 9 points and 6 boards and Jacob Loehr

had the team high rebounds with 8. Merritt added that “Any time a season comes to an end, especially one with such a great group of players, it's always disappointing. The best part of coaching at Springville is the opportunity that we get to be around such great student-athletes that are great people that happen to play basketball. The part about losing stinks mostly because you know that the time for that is much more limited than it had been”. The end of a season is always a time to express gratitude to the coaches and the players who spent a complete season committed to improving and competing at their highest level. This year's varsity boys team brought a new style to Machovec. What do you do when you're undersized? You run. And these kids spread the floor very well and ran a transition offense that created scoring opportunities for the posts and the guards. With their speed they pressed quite often too - they had their nose on the ball and created havoc , a new look to the boys program. A five win season may sound disappointing sure, but consider the positives. Finishing with a 5-17 record, they lost 5 games by five or fewer points. They played a total of 15 different teams 9 of whom have 10 or more wins this year and they faced two opponents (twice in the season) who were ranked among the state’s best. That is pretty stout competition and throughout it all, they continued to make strides. Senior leaders leaving the program will be irreplaceable. Loehr (pictured above) is perhaps the hardest working guy on the team. Undersized, he matched up against guys heavier and taller. Offensively, Jacob was able to use his speed to beat his defender to the basket. Max Boland added the size component and he had the heart to match. Carter Gilmore (pictured to the left) evolved the most this season. To watch him go from an assist man to a scorer was a real treat. He developed the ability to get to the rim and either put up a shot or dish it off inside - not what you'd see out of him in the first couple weeks of the season. That in itself is one of the real pleasures we can take from this year.

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James Fitzgerald (pictured right) is another lanky kid who typically draws an assignment with a few pounds on him, but again he uses his speed to defend and get to the rim. Sam Lorimer was the defensive specialist this season, his prime purpose was to get in the face of the opponent and oh did he answer the call. Ryan Barner (in photo below) is a player loaded with what I some times feel is a dirty word - potential. He has the size - both height and weight, not something we've seen for a couple seasons. If he develops more strength in the off season he will be a monster for opponents to deal with. We like monsters. Andrew Blakely (below right) is a composed and competitive kid who made the move to the post area when needed this season and he did so with full effort. He too was undersized in a position that was new to him, but he answered the call. His value as an inside and outside player is incredible and his work ethic is off the charts.

JP Kane (below left), a new face to the program brought that moxie on the outside. A lefty, JP drew the attention of the defense in multiple games when he'd open a contest with an Oriole three from the side of the arch. Kane's fiery spirit was a gift to the crowd and he compelled his team mates to work harder in every game. Cavanaugh Riley (directly below) is the ball handler who synthesizes Merritt's game plan. Riley too can spot up for the three when the defense sags and he can slash to the basket to give our bigs an easy lay in off the square. With next season opening in just 271 days, one can’t help but look ahead to another year of Oriole basketball—it’s been a great season, we look forward to the next!

boys basketball cont’d...

Wednesday, February 17, 2016 Oriole Pride 3

LADY ORIOLES LOOKING GOOD— REAL GOOD

On Tuesday the girls wasted no time in pouncing on Tri-County and separating themselves immediately in what was the O’s opening round of Regional basketball. Rylee Menster scored the first 8 points off of steals that amounted to 6 for the game. It was 35-7 at the half time horn and it was all Springville in quarters three and four. “Defensively, our full court pressure gave Tri-County fits all night” said Coach Sanderson and he continued with “We also did a great job sharing the ball. As a team, we totaled 17 assists to just 7 turnovers (a season low)”. That is pretty flawless basketball. Menster led with 21 points, 6 boards, 6 steals and 5 assists while Nachazel was right behind with 18 points, 3 boards, 3 steals and a block. Don't you just wonder how good these girls are? I’d love to line up a game against City High or W. Dubuque, but… all they can do is play the team that is scheduled and in the words of Keith Jackson, “Whoa Nelly” do they play. They press their opponent into oblivion - if Menster has bad breath, I empathize even more with those poor guards trying to bring the ball up the floor. Madi Wagaman plays with a smile most the time, even when she picks your pocket and dishes it off to her team mate for an easy score. Nachazel is their power house inside but watch her eyes. She and Megan Wagaman, the orchestrator, communicate non-verbally and the result? Nachazel averages 14 points and Wagaman 5 assists a game. Jaeger is a rangy, quiet kid that tucks herself in the corner and lulls you into forgetting about her and then bam, she lights you up for a quick 3 and then another and another. The Lady O's sixth-woman is Nichole Kane, a western Iowa transplant whose Mom is an Oriole alum. Kane is just a Freshman, but you'd never know it without the help of a program. She plays like a veteran which is a credit to her talent because she just joined this program last summer. Her defensive skills mirror those of Menster—Jeesh, you'd think they were related the way they run the top of the zone - oh wait, they are. Nichole's Mom is a Menster, almost makes you feel sorry for the other team doesn't it? Then we throw Sydney Williams into the mix - she is a sharp shooter to be sure, but watch the kid play defense. She's relentless and a treasure to watch at work. Chrissy Hoogland brings the brawn to the paint. Nothing gets past her. She outworks the bigs inside and muscles her opponent out of the way so if she doesn't get the

board - another Lady O certainly will. And when these girls are on the floor, the girls who fill the bench are just as "in" to the game as the five on the court. We really are fortunate to watch such talent up close and personal and while the wins are great, these kids attitudes, their effort, their gracious nature and the way they come together night in and out is nothing short of impressive to witness. To watch Springville kids work together—in every sport, girls and boys alike, make mistakes, improve as individuals and make strides ollectively - it's what prep sports should be about. While the roster changes from season to season, what remains the same are the families that are the staple of the Springville Community. Coaches can coax and prod their players to be humble and respectful - but families instill that. And that is why we all celebrate in seasons like this. Sure, we celebrate regardless of the win/loss record, but when they win, the PR that follows allows our community to get the credit it so deserves. So enjoy this time Oriole fans. And to the Oriole athletes, keep working hard, we absolutely love watching you compete. Your next glimpse of the girls will be their last appearance at home—7pm Friday night is when the ball goes up, Sigourney enters with a 14-9 record—Let’s Go O’s!!!

Left; Menster scoring off a steal Right; Nachazel up for an easy two

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WEEKLY PICKS CONTEST… Here we go players, girls high school basketball games and 1 NBA pick:

Montezuma vs Moravia Bellevue Marquette vs Easton Valley North Linn vs Alburnett Lakers at Bucks For the tie breaker, predict the total points scored in Friday’s Sigourney/Springville game. Here’s what you do—Make your picks and predict your tie breaker, then email us at oriolepride@gmail.com

Cavanaugh Riley of Springville returns to the winners seat this week, he was 3 for 4 last week! Thanks for playing and have a great week everyone.

Find us online at http://issuu.com/oriolepride E-mail; oriolepride@gmail.com

ORIOLE ARCHERS TRAVEL TO BELLEVUE

Last week, the Springville Archery team traveled to compete at the Bellevue tournament and Coach Biles filled us in on the results. Due to the travel distance involved and other activities on that day, 10 middle school and 5 high school archers did not make the trip to Bellevue. The top Springville archers in their divisions were: Middle School girls, Jasmine Jacobsen’s 280. Not only was this a personal best for Jasmine, it is the highest score ever shot by a middle school girl in the Springville program. Jasmine makes the fourth Springville archer this season who has shot a 280 or better. Autumn Rathjens was Springville’s second high middle school girl with a 262, which ties her all time high that she shot last year at the state tournament. The third highest Springville middle school girl was Jazlyn Andrea, whose score of 248 was a personal best. In the middle school boys division, Cade Zaruba’s 271 was tops, with Grant Gloeckner’s 268 being Springville’s second highest score. A. J. Unash’s 258, a personal best, was Springville’s third highest score, followed closely by Holden Cordes’ 257. In spite of several good archers not competing, the middle school team shot their second highest score of the season. There is a more stringent state tournament qualifying system in place this year, with the top 15 team scores in their division qualifying for state. Prior to the Bellevue tournament, the Springville middle school team was ranked 16th in the state. With a good team performance this Saturday at Anamosa, the middle school could move into that 15th spot. In the high school division, no team score was recorded as they were one archer short of having the required number to register a team score. Kylie Mysak’s 271 was the top high school girls score for Springville, followed by Jacinde’ Lillard’s 269 and Haley Kirchmann’s 267. In the high school boys’ division, Evan Corum’s 253 was Springville’s top score, followed by Brian Beebe’s 235, a personal best and John Evens’ 231. (Photo courtesy of Angie Gloeckner)

A FACE IN THE CROWD...Oriole Pride enjoys catching a Super Fan, parent or

student off guard from time to time and ask them a few questions in order to get to know them a bit better. This week we caught up with Oriole Super Fan and Media/Library Associate Mrs. Jennifer Wyman:

Where was your first date with husband Todd? His house—”we were in second grade and he asked me to come to dinner” What is your Mom’s middle name? Ilene What is your favorite ice cream flavor? I am not a fan of ice cream Where is your dream vacation? A cruise—to nowhere in particular If you could have dinner with anyone, who would you choose? Paula Dean (A second grade school photo of Jennifer is pictured here on the right)

Thanks Jennifer— you just never know, at the next Oriole event You could be more than a Face In The Crowd!