Springville clamps down, stops Turkey Valley

CEDAR RAPIDS - They took 24 shots and committed 22 turnovers. That's not a good ratio.

But because of a smothering defense, it was good enough for the Springville Orioles.

Class 1A top-rated Springville had one really good offensive stretch, a 14-0 run to start the second half, and that ignited the Orioles to a 40-27 victory over No. 2 Turkey Valley in a small-school girls' basketball showdown Saturday evening at the U.S. Cellular Center.

'We were a little frazzled and hurried against their press in the first half,” Springville Coach Nate Sanderson said. 'It was a matter of our guards believing they could handle (Turkey Valley's) pressure. They grew up a little tonight.”

This was the third major battle between these programs in the past 12 months. Turkey Valley won here, 49-42, last year, then Springville edged the Trojans, 49-48, for the 1A state championship in March.

The Orioles won the rubber match (for now), and it's entirely possible they'll bump into each other again in Des Moines.

After suffering a 50-33 loss to North Linn on Friday, the Orioles (10-1) were facing a second straight defeat. They scored just two points in the second quarter and trailed 20-13 at intermission.

'The loss (Friday) gave us a lot of feedback and motivated us for today,” Springville's Mikayla Nachazel said. 'We were picking each other up.”

Turkey Valley (11-1) made just two field goals in 26 second-half attempts.

'That's part of growth,” Sanderson said. 'Our girls at the bottom of our defense did a lot better job communicating.”

The Orioles led 27-21 by the end of the third quarter, and Turkey Valley got no closer than three points the rest of the way. Springville scored the game's final 10 points, hitting eight of its last 10 free-throw attempts.

Nachazel registered 19 points and eight rebounds, and Rylee Menster added 11 points for the Orioles.

Shelby Reicks posted 11 points and seven steals to lead Turkey Valley.

SPRINGVILLE 40, TURKEY VALLEY 27

At U.S. Cellular Center

SPRINGVILLE (40): Nichole Kane 1-4 0-2 2, Rylee Menster 2-6 7-14 11, Madi Wagaman 1-1 1-2 3, Alyssa Jaeger 1-1 3-4 5, Mikayla Nachazel 7-12 5-6 19, Sami Johnson 0-0 0-0 0, Katelyn Gloeckner 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 12-24 16-28 40.

TURKEY VALLEY (27): Kayla Gebel 0-9 0-0 0, Shelby Reicks 4-15 2-4 11, Elli Winter 1-3 3-4 5, Sadie Nymeyer 1-10 0-0 3, Morgan Kuennen 2-8 3-4 8, Kassidy Reicks 0-0 0-0 0, Katlyn Baumler 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 8-47 8-12 27.

Halftime: Turkey Valley 20, Springville 13. 3-point goals: Springville 0-3 (Menster 0-2, Nachazel 0-1), Turkey Valley 3-18 (Gebel 0-3, S.Reicks 1-5, Nymeyer 1-6, Kuennen 1-4). Team fouls: Springville 12, Turkey Valley 20. Fouled out: none. Rebounds: Springville 31 (Nachazel 8), Turkey Valley 27 (Kuennen 6). Assists: Springville 8 (Menster 3), Turkey Valley 4 (four with 1). Steals: Springville 9 (Menster 4), Turkey Valley 14 (S.Reicks 7). Turnovers: Springville 22, Turkey Valley 17.

l Comments: (319) 368-8857; jeff.linder@thegazette.com