(Oakland) Tuesday night on KSOM it’s a Western Iowa Conference basketball doubleheader. We’ll air Riverside’s home matchup with Tri-Center. Live video of the games will be available at WesternIowaToday.com.
Bulldog coach Nick Kroon says perseverance has been one of the things he’s been most impressed about when it comes to their team. All-Conference player Grady Jeppesen missed some games early in the season. As he returns to full strength the team is forming their identity. Right now their record is 2-5. “We ended last year doing pretty well down the stretch. I thought we kind of found our identity. Through the summer we found our identity Had a lot of guys work pretty hard at that. We’ve kind of been dealt a blow here to start. A lot of us didn’t expect to be sitting at this point right here. We just need to get our mojo back and confidence back.”
Aiden Bell has been a big bright spot, especially with his 3-point shooting. He’s 40.3% (27/67) from three-point range and scoring a team best 15.3 points per game.
Bell has tied the school record of 7 3-pointers in a game four different times in his career. He ranks 4th in Class 1A with his 27 3-pointer made this season. “I would say the biggest thing with Aiden Bell is leadership. He always hunts for his 3-point shot and that’s always been his thing, but I think just his leadership skills in practice. He hustles, his encouragement of teammates. He’s become an encourager of teammates and not a tearer down. I think that’s a huge step for him and it’s been cool to see him mature into that process.”
Last year Riverside lost to Tri-Center the first time around 68-63 and then beat the Trojans the second meeting 55-53. Michael Turner leads Tri-Center at over 18 points per game. “Turner is tough. Last year I thought we controlled them most of the game and then he as that big game ability. He’ll take over. Watching film on him, he has an agility to get down hill and get to the hoop and get to the free-throw line. I think he averages more free-throw attempts himself than we do as an entire team. He’s kind of the engine that makes things run.”
It’s a girl/boy doubleheader on Tuesday night. The girls game will tip at 6:00 with the boys game to follow.
Riverside coach Nick Kroon:
