Mason City holds off Charles City in area clash

Press Staff Report

A cross-county clash between Charles City and Mason City officially went down on Wednesday.

The Mohawks can claim bragging rights this season as the two teams from Floyd and Cerro Gordo counties took on one another in an area boys basketball tilt.

Mason City downed Charles City, 76-65. The game was a makeup contest that was postponed on Monday because of inclement weather and played on the Mohawks’ home floor.

Charles City junior J.J. Ritter pumped in 18 points and sophomore Ian Collins added 14 points for the orange-and-black-clad Comets. Tait Arndt hit double-figures with 13 points. Jeremiah Chapman notched six points and Marcus Cranshaw racked up five points for CHS.

Charles City’s leading scorer, senior post player Bradley Andrews, did not play in the contest.

“With Andrews sick tonight, we had a combination of different lineups on the floor,” said CCHS head coach Ben Klapperich.

“MC had a lot of solid perimeter players who did a nice job of moving without the basketball to get open looks. We did a great job of defending the three but without our main guy in the middle, our secondary rotations were off,” he said.

“It was a great opportunity for our guys to compete against a 4A team and I saw a lot of positive things from many of our players,” Klapperich said.

Mohawk sophomore Carter Thomas had an outstanding game from the field, going 8-12 from the floor, netting 20 points and ripping down 10 rebounds. Avery Mellman and Corey Miner each chipped in with 14 points apiece. Jeffrey Skogen amassed 11 points.

Mason City improves to 8-12 and takes on Ankeny to end the regular season on Friday.

Charles City falls to 10-10 and finishes off the regular season tonight versus Iowa Falls-Alden at home.

The Comets make the long trek south to take on Waverly-Shell Rock at Marion on Monday in postseason play. The Class 3A, Substate 3 quarterfinal contest takes place at 6:30 p.m.

The winner advances to the semifinal round and plays the winner of seventh-ranked Marion or South Tama on Thursday, Feb. 27, at 7 p.m.