Des Moines North girls basketball beats Des Moines East on Senior Day
“She’s a freshman.”
Des Moines North’s student section – nine rows deep for the girls basketball game between the Polar Bears and Des Moines East – chanted those three words after Goamar Bilim sank the fourth shot of the night.
She added even more points (16 total) before the end of the game, as North stormed past East, 46-15, on Tuesday.
"It’s good for the kids,” North coach Haywood Boston said of the win. “We’re really young, so it’s good. We’re improving every game. Last night, (Bilim) was 1-of-14. Tonight is different. That’s the up and down of a 14-year-old freshman. But I’m pleased because she’s working hard.”
The Polar Bears scored the first points of the game – off a shot from Haylie Weinheimer – over two minutes into the contest. A 3-pointer from East’s Araceli Aguilar put the Scarlets on the board, but it was almost all North from that point forward.
North didn't allow East to score any more points in the first quarter, and the Polar Bears outscored their opponent 27-9 in the first half.
The Polar Bears’ point total was pushed up by success from 3-point range by Nyakan Malual. She made three from beyond the arc – all from the left corner – in the first half and had one two-point shot from around the same spot in the second half.
“She loves to shoot from the corner,” Boston said. “And we always try to get it inside and go out to her. It’s just about consistency.”
Consistency is the key word for Boston’s team.
The Polar Bears are young, with two freshmen and a sophomore in the starting lineup. North was also without its leading scorer, Mariah Van Ersveide, who averages 15.4 points per game.
But even little improvements are important, and Boston counts it as a win when his team gets a little bit better every game.
“They persevere,” Boston said. “At the beginning of the year, we averaged (close to 50) turnovers a game. But from that point to now, we average maybe about 20, and that’s a big jump.
“Most of these kids have come a long way. They’ve improved tenfold already. It may not show in the wins, but you can see it in the stats.”
Alyssa Hertel is the college sports recruiting reporter for the Des Moines Register. Contact Alyssa at ahertel@dmreg.com or on Twitter @AlyssaHertel.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Des Moines North girls basketball beats East in DMPS matchup
