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English Valleys executes game plan with 2 starters out
Luers led Bears with 22 points in season-opening win
Southeast Iowa Union offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
MARENGO — Down two starters in your season opener is never ideal, but the playing style remained the same for the English Valleys girls basketball team despite missing two key pieces.
Press, get steals, play fast and attack the glass off misses.
The Bears took the lead early and did not look back in a win over Iowa Valley Tuesday, 63-32.
“No matter who is out there we can still get along with that same style of play,” head coach Chris Montross said following the win.
“We wanted to jump them early. That is a key to us being successful.”
A key part of that defensive pressure was Anna Luers.
In the first quarter, Luers’ first six points were off steals in the fast break.
The sophomore finished with a game-high 22 points, but Montross was more pleased with Luers’ passing abilities.
“The biggest thing today was she looked up the floor and had some assists on those steals, which to me is more important,” Montross said. “She’s seeing the court better.”
With starting post Ava Gehrking out, Kaylynn Caster also stepped up in the scoring department with 16 points for the Bears.
Caster played an all-around productive game in the winning effort.
“It was different without Ava,” Caster said. “Normally we work together high-low, so I looked for Anna more. We played well as a team in all phases.”
Caster, another sophomore, feels more confident heading into a second season.
“I feel more confident, I’m taking more shots and finding my teammates better,“ Caster said.
English Valleys led 34-15 at the break, more than doubling their lead after the first quarter.
Iowa Valley put together their best quarter in the third, scoring 11 points.
Maeci Marshall and Kennedy Thiessen each had four in the quarter.
Myla Frimml, who had a couple nice post moves, led the Tigers with 10 in the game.
Leading by 26 after three, the scoring slowed down in the fourth from both teams.
Addison Achenbach also finished with double-digit points as the Bears begin their season 1-0.
“I was very pleased how we looked for our first game,” Montross said. “Our passing was tremendous, we applied pressure, and dictated pace.”
Iowa Valley fell to 0-4.
