Boys basketball: Bulldogs soar past Scarlets
Feb. 12—OTTUMWA — It felt like a Friday afternoon just before the final bell sounds.
The Ottumwa High School boys basketball team had been through a hectic, challenging stretch of 11 games in the span of three weeks including consecutive weeks with four games in five days. The Bulldogs have had to battle through all sorts of unique challenges, ranging from dramatic road wins at Marshalltown and Centerville a grinding stretch of games in which the Bulldogs failed to get beyond 43 points including a 79-42 loss to Ames just 24 hours earlier.
The Bulldogs struggled offensively against on Friday. For about three minutes.
After giving up the first five points to Des Moines East, Ottumwa took off. Matt Mitchell came off the bench to score eight of Ottumwa's 22 points in the first quarter, sparking a 24-0 run that helped the Bulldogs set sail on a 67-26 Iowa Alliance south division win over the Scarlets that served as a night to celebrate as Ottumwa improved to 12-7 on the season, finishing 5-5 in the IAC south and 7-4 in their hectic three-week stretch.
"It was definitely a refreshing game for us," Ottumwa junior Trae Brown said. "We needed this a lot. This week has been rough playing another four games and feeling dead at times. It felt good to come alive like that."
Mitchell's opening quarter was just the start of a productive night for the Ottumwa bench. The Bulldogs ended the first half on a 20-3 run, opening a 46-12 lead before holding the Scarlets to just two points in the third quarter, building a 46-point lead before turning the fourth quarter over to nine reserves that split time throughout the final eight minutes allowing Ottumwa's regular starters to match the OHS student section in cheering on every big play.
"We knew we just had to weather the storm early," Ottumwa head boys basketball coach Neil Hartz said. "We started pressing a little more because it's something we need to be working on heading into the postseason. We got some turnovers, got the game going and got the flow going. It was pretty much game on after that point."
Bryant Nunez scored the first five points of the game, hitting two of his first three shots from the field as East opened a 5-0 lead. Nunez would not score another point, missing his next nine shots, as Ottumwa held the Scarlets to just six made field goals over the final 29 minutes and just one made 3-pointer over the final three quarters.
Ottumwa, meanwhile, recovered quickly from the slow start finishing the night shooting over 50 percent (29-54) from the field. Brown, who has had to battle in the post throughout Ottumwa's three-week, 11-game stretch recorded a double-double with 18 points and 12 rebounds in just three quarters.
"I wake up, go to school and I'm still feeling it," Brown said of the physical effects of each contest over the past three weeks. "I feel dead. It's been rough. It was refreshing to get everyone to contribute. It was Friday. We made it through another week. It was fun to see all my teammates score. It was a lot of fun to get everyone involved."
Parker Derby backed up Brown, scoring 13 points for the Bulldogs while hauling in six rebounds. Rahsha Pope added 10 points, six rebounds and four assists.
"We were having a good run in the first half," Derby said. "It's all about good teamwork. Trae and Rahsha were finding us open. Matt had a great game on both ends of the court. We started to build a lot of positive energy. It helped me to get the big rebounds and get the big putbacks."
Tayte Warren led East (3-17, 2-8 Iowa Alliance) with six points in the loss. Ottumwa wraps up the regular season on Tuesday night hosting Fort Madison on Senior Night with Pope and Javen Rominger to be honored prior to the varsity contest.
"It's been big. It's been fun. It's been stressful going through this busy stretch of games," Hartz said. "There hasn't been a lot of sleep. Coach (Jeff) Smith and I have been doing a lot of film watching in the short time between games. The kids have stayed dialed in, even at practice. They still want to learn.
"When you're having success, the kids buy in. It makes everything a little bit better. It's a testament to the guys. Not many teams have run through the gauntlet that we just did."
— Scott Jackson can be reached at sjackson@ottumwacourier.com. Follow him on Twitter@CourierScott.