Comets stand tall in loss to Class 3A No. 2-ranked Cadets

By John Burbridge
sports@charlescitypress.com
CHARLES CITY — The reason why Wilt Chamberlain was considered a “freak” in his day is because even at 7 feet, 2 inches tall he was often the best athlete on the court.

Crestwood’s University of Iowa-bound senior Sharon Goodman is not quite that tall but likely is taller than her listed 6-3 height. Sure, her size advantage may account for much of her double-double scoring and rebounding totals, but Goodman can also run the floor, finish in traffic, has excellent footwork in the post, has soft hands as indicated by way she snares a hot pass without a sound coming from her palms, is a deft and unselfish passer, and shoots with a nice touch with both hands.

Goodman and the Class 3A No. 2-ranked Cadets came into Charles City on Tuesday as the overwhelming favorites to complete the season sweep between the two teams.

But the Comets didn’t “Wilt” under the challenge.

Charles City took it right to Cadets, had several possessions with three offensive rebounds with Goodman in the game, got Crestwood in the penalty in the third quarter of the second half while only being whistled for one foul itself, and even denied several entry passes to the first-team all-stater while fronting and backing her in the paint.

Things didn’t get much easier for the Comets when sophomore interior defender Rachel Chambers went down with a knee injury in the first half before leaving the gym in a wheelchair. But even though the final score was 72-51 in favor of the Cadets, you can argue the Comets played as well as if not better than their previous game, which was a 50-point blowout win on the road against Oelwein.

Goodman, who is among the state’s scoring leaders at 27.9 ppg, was on par with a game-high 28 points. Laken Lienhard added 21 points for Cadets, who improved to 15-3 overall and 8-1 in the Northeast Iowa Conference — second behind league-leading Waverly-Shell Rock which defeated Crestwood in their first of two meetings this season.

Charles City senior Liz Fiser, who played most of the game in foul trouble, led the Comets with 13 points.

Senior Mackenzy Bilharz continued her string of double-figure scoring with 11 points, and sophomore Lydia Staudt scored 9 for Charles City (5-13, 2-7), which will be back in action on Friday when hosting Waukon as part of the team’s “Senior Night” on Friday.

* Astrid Hernadez led the Charles City junior varsity team with 9 points in its 34-18 loss to the Cadets earlier that night.

CRESTWOOD 72, CHARLES CITY 51
Scoring By Quarters
CW 23 29 16 4 — 72
CC 9 16 10 16 — 51
Individual Scoring
CRESTWOOD — Laken Lienhard 21, Kryslynn Ruppert 3, Paetyn Blockhus 2, Shelby Pisney 6, Mattie Slavin 6, Sharon Goodman 28, Britain Ferrie 4
CHARLES CITY — Lynn Hoeft 3, Dani Stock 4, Lydia Staudt 9, Liz Fiser 13, Mackenzy Bilharz 11, Lauren Connell 7, Sadie Gebel 4