Comet boys fly by Cadets; CC girls get 2nd win in ‘Battle at the Border’

By John Burbridge
sports@charlescitypress.com
CHARLES CITY — For football teams, it’s nice when the defense scores points for them.

But for many basketball teams, offense spawned by defense is more of a requirement than a luxury.

The Charles City Comets are one of those teams that need to score in transition to be successful. And while hosting the Crestwood Cadets in a Northeast Iowa Conference boys matchup on Friday, the Comets repeatedly gave themselves open-court opportunities and took advantage of them on way to rolling to a 62-47 victory.

The Comets improved to 2-3 overall after starting the season with three losses, and are now 2-0 in the NEIC.

The Cadets, who started the season a little better with two straight wins, are now 2-2 and 1-0.

Senior Bradley Andrews had 15 points to lead the Comets, which boasted four players in double-figures including JJ Ritter (14), Tait Arndt (13) and Ian Collins (10).

Senior Marcus Cranshaw had 7 points and led the team in assists.

Among the players who helped open the court for the Comets was sophomore Collins, whose steal and dunk put Charles City up 22-12 in the second quarter.

Cadet junior Reid Wiley scored a game-high 20 points for the Cadets.
* Meanwhile in Cresco, the Comet girls fell to the Class 3A No. 6-ranked Cadets by a score of 60-34.

Charles City bounced back the following day when it defeated Schaeffer Academy 48-39 at a “Battle at the Border” girls basketball showcase at Luther College for its second win of the season.

The Comets (2-5) were held to 2 points for most of the first quarter before eventually getting on track to take a 21-19 lead at the half.

Charles City continued to build from there and eventually led by 11 with under three minutes remaining in regulation.

Senior Liz Fiser and Lynn Hoeft both scored 10 points, Lauren Connell and Lydia Staudt each had 8 points, and Rachel Chambers and Danielle Stock each added 6 for the Comets, who — unless there’s a change in the schedule — will finish the season undefeated against teams from Minnesota.

Boys Basketball
CHARLES CITY 62, CRESTWOOD 47
Scoring By Quarters
CW 12 11 13 11 — 47
CC 18 18 12 14 — 62
CRESTWOOD — Carter Henry 8, Reid Wiley 20, Garrett Oliendieck 12, Lawson Brown 5, Kade Munkel 2
CHARLES CITY — JJ Ritter 14, Ian Collins 10, Marcus Cranshaw 7, Bradley Andrews 15, Kaden Barry 3, Tait Arndt 13
Girls Basketball
CRESTWOOD 60, CHARLES CITY 34

CHARLES CITY 48,
SCHAEFFER ACADEMY 39
CHARLES CITY — Lynn Hoeft 10, Danielle Stock 6, Rachel Chambers 6, Lydia Staudt 8, Liz Fiser 10, Lauren Connell 8