Panther zones stymie IKM-Manning squads
MANNING (Dec. 4) -- Slow starts and effective zone defense by Logan-Magnolia thwarted the IKM-Manning basketball teams Friday night as the Wolves were swept in a Western Iowa Conference doubleheader.
Both IKM-M squads dropped to 0-2 in the WIC.
Logan-Magnolia won the girls game 57-43 behind 21 points from senior Emilie Thompson. The Panthers built a 28-12 lead by late in the first half and never let the Wolves pull closer than nine points the rest of the way.
Scoring leaders for IKM-Manning were Bianca Cadwell and Taylor Ferneding with 10 points each, Alexa Ahrenholtz nine points and Nicole Hanson six. Ahrenholtz added four steals.
The Wolves shot just 29 percent as a team and made only 3-of-28 three-pointers.
“We didn’t get off to a very good start,” said IKM-M head coach Gene Rasmussen. “I think the first half we were shooting 20-some percent... I thought we did a better job of executing [the second half] but you just can’t get down like that and expect to beat teams like that.”
The boys game followed a similar pattern as IKM-Manning fell behind 11-0 and didn’t score until the 1:26 mark of the first quarter. The Wolves pulled within 22-17 at the half but had another slow start in the third quarter as Lo-Ma hit a pair of quick threes and scored the first eight points. The margin stayed above eight points the rest of the way, ending with a 53-37 Panther victory.
IKM-Manning shot 23 percent overall, including 5-of-28 from three-point range. Kyler Rasmussen scored a team-high 15 points, Connor Keller had six points and Cooper Irlmeier and Brody Swearingen both added five. Rasmussen pulled down a team-high eight rebounds and also had three assists.
“The start was bad. We shot the ball horribly all night long,” said IKM-M head coach Keith Wagner. “And I give (Lo-Ma) credit because they had a lot of length and a lot of size, and we really don’t have anybody over 6-1."
Wagner added: “(Our guys) played hard. The effort was good. We just had a tough time making some shots.”