PV girls play tough Knights hard
Class 2A’s top-ranked girls basketball team, Davenport Assumption, walked out of the Pleasant Valley gym with a 41-30 Mississippi Athletic Conference victory last Friday night.
But the Knights did so uneasily, after the Spartans gave the defensive effort of the season that kept them in the basketball game past halftime.
“We went to Assumption before Christmas and didn’t give a good account of ourselves,” PV coach Craig Clark said. “I said to the girls that I don’t know if we’d beat them, but I wanted people to know that we’re a tough team.“
Pleasant Valley (9-6, 6-6 MAC) led after one quarter (8-7) and trailed by just two points at the halftime break (18-16). Keri Sorensen led the Spartans offensively, scoring eight points.
Last Tuesday, PV held North Scott scoreless in the final two minutes, pulling out a 39-35 MAC victory on the road. Kelsey Jipp paced the Spartans with 11 points, with Sorensen adding nine.
Tuesday night’s game against Muscatine was postponed until Wednesday, after Bettendorf News press deadlines. Check out today’s Quad-City Times for results. PV will also host North on Friday at 7:30 p.m. and will travel to Dubuque Hempstead on Saturday night (start time 6:30 p.m.).
Boys basketball
In a contrast of styles in the PV gym last Friday night, Assumption’s Ben Bush hit a 15-foot jumper with 2.4 seconds left in regulation, as the Knights handed the Spartans a 47-45 home MAC loss.
“They proved they were the better team this year. They beat us twice,” PV coach Dallas Duwa said of the Knights. “I’m certainly disappointed with how our guys played. They (Assumption) had an advantage (physically) and took advantage of it. It was just a disappointing night for us.“
John Lindstrom’s double-double effort (16 points, 10 rebounds) went for naught for the Spartans (8-6, 6-4). Lindstrom hit a 3-pointer with 10 seconds left to play, a trey that served as his first points of the half. The basket tied the game at 45. Ben Stecker added 10 points for Pleasant Valley.
Last Tuesday, the Spartans started fast against North Scott, jumping out to a 15-7 lead after one quarter and — for the most part — making that lead stand up in a 50-40 home MAC victory.
“We’ve recently been getting good starts, but it’s been the third quarter that has hurt us,” Duwa said. “We are getting closer to playing four quarters, (but) tonight we dragged in the second quarter.“
Lindstrom again led PV in scoring with 20 points, including eight of PV’s nine in the second quarter.
“I was able to get inside, take advantage of my size and I just kept taking shots I thought I could make,” he said. “My strength got me into the paint and the shots fell.“
Brett Bueker added 13 points for the Spartans.
Tuesday’s game against Muscatine was postponed until Wednesday, after Bettendorf News press deadlines. Check out today’s Quad-City Times for results. The Spartans will travel to Davenport North Friday (start time 7:30 p.m.) and will host Dubuque Hempstead on Saturday night at about 6:30 p.m.
Boys swimming
The Spartans, ranked second in Iowa, concluded the regular season in dominating fashion with a 126-43 MAC dual meet win over Davenport West on the road last Thursday night.
Jared Dammann won four events for Pleasant Valley, winning the 200-yard individual medley in 4.57 seconds. He also won the 100 backstroke by nearly 3.5 seconds and swam legs on the 200 medley relay and 400 freestyle relay.
Three other Spartans brought home three victories. Zack Bartholomew, John Beck and Will Horvat all swam legs on the 200 and 400 freestyle relays, with Bartholomew anchoring both and Horvat leading both off.
Horvat’s leadoff leg was particularly impressive, given that it immediately followed his win in the 500 freestyle, which he won by 14.2 seconds. Bartholomew won the 100 butterfly by 3.42 seconds and Beck won the 100 free by .77 seconds.
Pleasant Valley will travel to Burlington for district competition on Saturday.
Wrestling
Last Thursday, the PV wrestlers traveled to Rockridge High School for a nonconference double dual against the host Rockets and Sherrard, defeating Rockridge 50-16 and falling to the Tigers 34-24.
Three Spartans brought home two victories in the double dual. Nick Goetsch (119 pounds) had a technical fall in the Sherrard dual, following that up with a first-period pin against Rockridge. At 160, Brandon Dobbs had one major decision and one decision, and Tyler Hampton (171) won by pin against Sherrard and recorded a forfeit victory against Rockridge.
The Spartans competed in the Kirksville (Mo.) Tiger Classic last Saturday. PV travels to Mount Pleasant tonight for a double dual against Mount Pleasant and Marion. Tonight’s double dual wraps up the regular-season for the wrestlers, who are done with competition until the Class 3A district meet at Bettendorf on Saturday, Feb. 9.
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