Anamosa keeps rolling with district-opening rout of North Cedar

ANAMOSA - You can label it aggressive, uptempo, chaotic. They all fit.

There's a way Anamosa wants to play the game of basketball. It's sure fun to watch, and it sure works.

'Frenetic. Crazy. I don't know,” said Kyle Schepanski.

'Inspired,” said teammate Kolin Schulte.

The frenetic, crazy, inspired Blue Raiders kicked off their postseason with a 66-32 win over North Cedar in a Class 2A district opener Monday night. They've won eight in a row and 13 of 14, mostly against 3A competition in the Wamac Conference.

There's a reason The Gazette has them ranked fifth despite a 17-5 record.

'We've been waiting for the playoffs all year,” said leading scorer Schulte. 'We had a huge crowd here, loud. We were ready to play.”

Oodles of defensive pressure led to oodles of early North Cedar turnovers that ended the outcome of this game early. Anamosa scored the first 15 points and led 21-4 after the first quarter.

This rout came despite Schulte and guard mate Kyle Sayre having to sit quite a bit of the first half with three fouls each. Officials that call games tight might be the only thing that stops Anamosa, which accumulated 25 fouls in this game.

It's Camanche (17-5) in a 2A district semifinal Thursday night at Goose Lake.

'Right away, they made a lot of turnovers,” said Schulte, who finished with 17 points, five under his gaudy season average.”They threw the ball right to us. Our pressure was too much.”

'Our pressure, it's a way to get them out of control,” Schepanski said. 'That's what we want to do. Make them play faster than they want to.”

Schepanski added 15 points and Tyler Zumbach 14. The return from injury of the 6-foot-6 Zumbach after the Christmas break has really helped Anamosa take off.

'You didn't get to see Kolin at his best tonight,” said Anamosa Coach Kevin Barnes. 'He's having a special year. Those three guys - Schulte, Schepanski and Zumbach - are all special.”

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AT ANAMOSA

NORTH CEDAR (32): Jacob Holst 0-2 0-0 0, Cody Fields 0-2 3-4 3, Aaron Woodward 0-4 0-3 0, Carter Johnson 1-7 4-5 7, Jacob Jensen 1-2 0-0 2, Logan Minar 5-9 1-5 11, Ian Malaby 1-7 2-4 4, Myles Shedeck 0-1 3-6 3, Colin Sander 0-0 1-2 1, Bryce Bemer 0-0 1-2 1, Mason Minar 0-2 0-0 0, Andrew Reif 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 8-36 15-30 32.

ANAMOSA (66): Austin Hunt 0-3 3-4 3, Tyler Zumbach 5-12 2-4 14, Kolin Schulte 6-10 3-3 17, Kyle Schepanski 6-10 0-0 15, Kyle Sayre 2-2 0-0 4, Ryan Krapfl 1-1 0-0 2, Cole Sander 1-3 1-1 3, Cole Jamison 2-5 1-1 5, Dylan Jones 0-0 0-0 0, Gabe Finn 1-4 0-0 3, Dillon Meade 0-0 0-0 0, Wyatt Heims 0-3 0-0 0, Elijah Pavin 0-0 0-0 0, Brian Sayre 0-0 0-0 0, Gabe Wolfe 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-53 10-13 66.

Halftime - Anamosa 33, North Cedar 18. 3-point goals - North Cedar 1-14 (Fields 0-2, Woodward 0-2, Johnson 1-2, Jensen 0-1, Shedeck 0-1, M. Minar 0-1), Anamosa 8-26 (Hunt 0-1, Zumbach 2-5, Schulte 2-4, Schepanski 3-6, Jamison 0-3, Finn 1-2, Heims 0-2, Sander 0-2). Rebounds - North Cedar 38 (L. Minar 6), Anamosa 26 (Zumbach 6). Total fouls - North Cedar 14, Anamosa 25. Turnovers - North Cedar 20, Anamosa 7.

l Comments: (319) 398-8259; jeff.johnson@thegazette.com