March 19, 2024

Big finish pushes C-M girls past Keota

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COLFAX — Payton Rhone has been given the green light to shoot the ball from outside whenever she is open by Colfax-Mingo coach Larry Roberts.

Make it or miss it, Roberts wants his best shooter to let it fly whenever she can.

The Tigerhawk sophomore did just that Friday night during a South Iowa Cedar League home game against Keota.

Rhone buried three 3-pointers in the first half to keep Colfax-Mingo close, and then three more 3-pointers in the fourth quarter led the Tigerhawks to a dominant final eight minutes in a 52-40 victory.

“I think once I hit that first one, I could just hit the rest of them,” Rhone said.

“Once I got that confidence, the ball just kept going in.”

Playing in a tight game for the first three quarters, the Tigerhawks needed all of Rhone’s shots to go in, and most of them did. The 18 points she scored was a career-high, and the Tigerhawks ended a five-game losing streak.

“At some point, I would like us to put a full game together and see what we can do,” C-M coach Larry Roberts said. “Keota has had a rough year but they aren’t quitting. I won’t complain too much because we won. We have to realize where we are at. There are things that we do still need to work on though.”

The first three quarters were a back-and-forth affair. There were 11 lead changes in the game and those all occurred before Colfax-Mingo dominated the fourth quarter.

Led by Addison Sprouse, Keota led 11-8 after the first frame. Sprouse scored a game-high 19 poiints and six of those came in the opening stanza.

“Anyone that plays us is thinking that’s a chance to get a win, so the girls have to be ready to play every night,” Roberts said. “Keota played hard, and we were a step slow at the beginning of the game.”

Rhone’s first trey gave the Tigerhawks a 15-14 advantage. The Eagles answered with a triple to take back the lead, but Rhone responded with another 3-pointer. Keota got a jumper from Erin Chalupa to go back in front 19-18.

Rhone’s final 3-pointer of the first half pushed the Tigerhawks back ahead 21-19, but Sprouse gave Keota (0-14 overall, 0-10 in SICL play) a 22-21 lead at halftime after burying a 3-pointer of her own.

“They packed it in on the zone, and dared us to shoot it from outside,” Roberts said. “By the time they finally came out on (Rhone) she had already made four or five.”

Keota held a 24-21 lead when Colfax-Mingo began to play its best basketball of the night. Senior Dakota Hostetter rebounded a Rhone miss and scored on a putback.

Then another Rhone miss was gobbled up by senior Amy Russell. That offensive rebound by Russell led to a foul and two free throws. It extended the home team’s lead to 28-24, and the Tigerhawks never trailed again.

“She needs to shoot the ball even after misses. If she’s open, I want her to shoot it. She has the green light,” Roberts said of Rhone. “When she missed a couple, (Hostetter) got an offensive rebound and put it back in and (Russell) got one and got fouled. We are athletic enough to go get the rebounds on misses, too. Missing is not the worse thing for us.”

Leading 29-27 after three quarters, Russell began the fourth quarter with a trey and two free throws.

That’s when Rhone went back to work. Her first 3-pointer of the second half capped an 8-0 run that put Colfax-Mingo (3-9, 3-7) up 10. Her final two triples of the night came midway through the fourth and kept the Tigerhawks in front by double-digits.

“Winning feels so much better. I just wanted to help us get the win,” Rhone said. “It felt good to see the ball go in the hole.”

Hostetter converted another putback, while junior Ries Wilson scored a bucket inside and buried two free throws late to put C-M up 14. Colfax-Mingo outscored Keota 23-12 in the final quarter.

The Tigerhawks went on to win by 12, and Wilson finished with a 12-point, 12-rebound double-double.

“Keota probably got tired, but we played with more aggressiveness, too, and got after it,” Roberts said. “(Wilson) showed a little emotion tonight, which is good. I want to see her rip the ball through a few times. She took it to the basket tonight, too. That’s what we want. She can do that. We need her to do that.”

The Tigerhawks hit 11-of-19 from the free-throw line in the game, but they made five of those in the fourth to help preserve the lead.

Rhone was a starter at the beginning of the night. Her big performance Friday came with her coming off the bench, but that is where the sophomore feels most comfortable.

“Not starting was totally my choice,” Rhone said. “I get to watch the game a little bit, and it’s nerve wracking for me to start. I don’t play my best when I start, so I asked to come off the bench so I can play better.”

Russell scored seven points, grabbed six rebounds and collected three steals, while Hostetter scored four points and pulled down seven rebounds. Junior McKeely Tjaden added seven points, and sophomore Mackensie Brown contributed three steals.

Colfax-Mingo hosts SICL rival North Mahaska at 6 p.m. Tuesday in Colfax.

Keota 11-11-5-13 — 40

Colfax-Mingo 8-13-7-24 — 52

Keota (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP) — Chalupa 2-1-0-5, Duwa 0-0-2-0, Raigan Sprouse 3/2-0-2-8, Schulte 3-0-4-6, Addison Sprouse 5/2-7-3-19, Swanson 0-2-5-2. Totals 13/4-10-16-40.

Colfax-Mingo (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP) — Underwood 0-2-4-2, Russell 1-4-5-7, Tjaden 2-3-4-7, Wilson 5-2-1-12, Hostetter 2-0-3-4, Rhone 6/6-0-2-18, McConeghey 0-0-0-0, Brown 1-0-2-2, Atwood 0-0-1-0, Colville 0-0-0-0. Totals 17/7-11-22-52.