Harmony hot, Van Buren hotter in 84-71 victory

KEOSAUQUA ? If the rim seemed extra wide to Harmony Thursday night, there?s no telling how big it appeared to the Van Buren boys.

Despite Harmony hitting seven treys in the first half, the Van Buren boys rallied to score their second highest point total of the season and grabbed a 84-71 win in Keosauqua.

?This is probably the best team Harmony has had in the past eight years,? said Van Buren head coach Fred Parsons. ?They?re a nice ball team. I knew this was going to be tough simply because they are so quick.?

Following back-to-back 3s from Harmony, Van Buren found itself down 16-11 lead after just six minutes and 18-15 after one quarter of play.

In the second quarter, Van Buren?s Colin Weaver scored on back-to-back baseline drives to cut the deficit to one, and Blake Scott scored two to give the Warrors the lead, 21-20. Weaver scored 15 of his 25 points in the second quarter as the Warriors outscored Harmony 29-19 in the decisive period.

The Warriors led 44-37 at halftime, and although they never would relinquish the lead, Harmony made a few runs of its own.

Harmony went on an 11-6 run at the start of the second half to whittle Van Buren?s lead to 50-48, but the Warriors answered with a 13-7 run to close the third quarter. The Rockets then got within five in the fourth quarter, but Van Buren again responded with a 15-4 run to seal the win.

?I thought our kids withstood some of the runs they made, and we tried just about all of our defenses we had in our arsenal to try to get them stopped,? Parsons said.

The 84-point total was the most the Warriors have scored since a 90-59 win against West Burlington Dec. 20.

Four Warriors scored in double figures to help garner the 84 points. Along with Weaver?s 25 points, Scott had 19 points, Elliott Remick scored 17 with three treys, and Zach Boyd added 13 points.

Van Buren (13-6, 12-5 SEISC south) finishes out the regular season with a home game vs. Cardinal Tuesday.

VAN BUREN ? Weaver 25, Scott 19, Remick 17, Boyd 13, Stine 6, Nelson 2, Saunders 2, Total FG 33

3-point goals ? Remick 3, Weaver 1