(Audubon, IA) — Sometimes it isn’t easy to put a team away and Riverside did not go down without a fight but Audubon held on for a 52-43 victory on Friday in both team’s first game of the new year. It was Brody Shultes big three pointer with 1:39 left that pushed a 6 point lead to a 9 point advantage that sealed the deal for the Wheelers.
It started out like a runaway for Audubon — a 9-0 run to end the first quarter broke open a close game and gave the Wheelers a 15-5 lead. Audubon got the first four points of the second quarter to make it a 13-0 overall run before the Bulldogs a three from Cole Jeppesen. Bulldogs leading scorer Peyton Amdor was frustrated the entire first half, going scoreless and have trouble even getting a shot off against the tough Audubon zone defense. After a missed shot in the second, Amdor was teed up by the official and that was his third personal foul which sent him to the bench. Owen Fenner and Jeppesen kept Riverside in the game but Brody Schultes hit a couple of triples in the second quarter and Audubon built a 33-19 halftime lead.
Riverside would not quit — after the team’s traded buckets to start the third quarter — the Bulldogs got a couple of more shots to drop to cut the lead to 10. Audubon went inside and Carson Wessel started to assert himself with 6 points in the quarter. However, Riverside stepped up its defensive pressure and snuck in behind Audubon for some key rebounds. Amdor finally got on the scoreboard, Owen Fenner and Dawson Henderson each hit threes and Riverside cut the lead to 41-34 at the end of three quarters.
At the start of the final period, Audubon broke the Riverside defense with long passes to Schultes who got free for two easy lay-ups in a row. The Bulldogs answered with a three from Peyton Amdor and Jeppesen and Fenner each hit buckets. The Bulldogs got the lead all way down to four 45-41. After a Wessel deuce, Schultes would punch in his big three point shot with 1:39 left to move the game from a 2 to 3 possession game. Audubon is not a very good free throw shooting team but did hit a couple down the stretch and the Bulldogs missed some long threes.
Brody Schultes and Carson Wessel each led Audubon (3-3) with 18 points while Brody Weber had 6 points off the bench. Riverside (3-3) was led by Owen Fenner with 13 points, Cole Jeppesen had 11 while Peyton Amdor was held to just 7 points, 10 below his average.
Post Game Interview with Brody Schultes of Audubon
