(Greenfield) The Nodaway Valley girls basketball team is a win away from clinching at least a share of the Pride of Iowa Conference championship. KSOM will air Wolverine basketball on Tuesday nigh when they host Mount Ayr.
A victory on Tuesday night would allow Nodaway Valley to lay claim to their 3rd POI title in four years. That’s a big deal for coach Brian Eisbach’s program. “It is. That’s our first goal every season is the Pride of Iowa. Getting that win earlier in the season against Martensdale-St. Marys was big. Crucial I guess if you want to call it that way if you want a chance to win the conference. Obviously beating Mount Ayr the first time we saw them was big. We have Mount Ayr on Tuesday and Lenox on Friday and we have to finish strong. What will happen, will happen, but it’s definitely a goal we talk about regularly.”
Nodaway Valley is 11-0 in the conference, Martensdale-St. Marys is 10-1, and Mount Ayr 9-3. The Wolverines beat the Raiders 63-47 in December. “Keys against Mount Ayr are always, it doesn’t matter the team or the season, we are going to be get their best. They are always well coached and they fight like heck. We are going to have to match that intensity or be greater than that. We are going to have to hit shots, take care of the ball, and box out. They are very good at doing those little things. We’ll have to do all those little things better than they do.”
Nodaway Valley has won six straight games to improve their overall record to 15-4. Their last victory was a big one. On Saturday they beat Class 1A #15 Earlham by a score of 60-41. “I think the thing that stood out the most was our kids were laser focused. We dealt with some really bad foul trouble starting in the 2nd quarter and bled all the way into the 4th quarter. Our kids did a good job of staying focused and not letting things bother them. I thought our intensity was great offensively and defensively. We took care of the ball, we had some turnovers here and there, but I kind of felt like the kids got everything they needed and wanted. It was a really fun, dominant win for us.”
Junior Lindsey Davis is 2nd in the state in scoring for all classes. She trails only Iowa State commit Audi Crooks in that category with an average of 26.7 points per game. She also contributes 5.5 rebounds, 3.4 assists, and 5.1 steals per game. Izzy Eisbach has been another statistical bright spot for Nodaway Valley. The freshman submits 14.3 points, 5.4 rebounds, 4.8 assists, and 4.1 steals per game. She is 9 assists away from the single season school record.
Nodaway Valley coach Brian Eisbach:
