CC girls’ basketball season ends with 53-24 loss in Decorah

By Eric Hofer | Press Correspondent

A high school basketball season begins in mid-November. It works its way through a Thanksgiving holiday and past Christmas and into each New Year.

Early morning practices and lengthy bus rides litter the days, weeks, and months. Injuries can get in the way of progress. It’s cold outside, too.

And then, suddenly, it’s gone. The season ends. For only one team, the final game of the year ends in a victory. They are state champs.

For all the rest, a loss is how their campaigns end.

It was a loss that brought this 2015-2016 season to an end for the Charles City Comet girls basketball team.

The Comets traveled to Decorah to face the Vikings in the first round of the road to the state tournament. Charles City showed great fight but lost 53-24.

Kelsey Crooks hit a 16-foot jumper on the Comets’ first possession and Charles City had their only lead of the night. Decorah then scored twelve in a row. It would be the first of several runs by the Vikings, and it gave Decorah a 12-4 lead after one.

The Comets sliced that lead in half on a Jamie Sindlinger free throw and a three pointer by Taylor Hoffman, but Decorah scored the next six. Hoffman would answer again with another deep three, and it was 21-11 Vikings at the half.

A Sindlinger bank shot off an inbounds pass from Gen Wandro, a Bailey Mitchell jumper, and another Hoffman three kept the Comets close, but the Vikings closed the third with four straight to lead 33-19 going to the fourth.

Sindlinger and Crooks scored close to the hoop thanks to nifty feeds to the post (one by Crooks, one by Wandro) to bring Charles City within twelve. The Vikings then scored eight in a row, and the lead was 20.

Sindlinger added a free throw for the final point of the season for the Comets.    Decorah then tallied the game’s final ten points.

The Comets attempted to face guard the top two Viking scorers, Taylor Schuring and Sondra Zidlicky.

It worked against Zidlicky. The Decorah senior center came in averaging 10 points per game, but scored only four, all of them in garbage time.

Against Schuring, it was tougher. The Decorah standout senior guard went off for 32 points in what was a dominating performance.

Head Comet girls basketball coach Danielle Rippentrop was pleased with many areas of her team’s play.

“The girls did a great job with our defensive game plan,” said Rippentrop. “Payton (Reams) and Gen worked incredibly hard. Face guarding for almost an entire game is extremely tough. I am very proud of both of those girls for the heart they showed tonight.

“Taylor came out and killed it on the offensive end. She kept us in the game

several times tonight. Jamie was tremendous the whole game.”

“As a team,  we left everything we had on the floor.”

Rippentrop was a bit more solemn as she recapped her team’s season.

“This was a very hard season on both our bodies and our mentality. The girls, however, showed a tremendous amount of character throughout the whole year.

“Even though our record doesn’t show it, these girls are a great bunch of kids. They came to practice every day and worked incredibly hard. They could have given up a long time ago, but instead they fought every possession.

“I am very proud to have had the opportunity to coach these amazing young ladies, and I wouldn’t trade any of them!”

Hoffman and Sindlinger paced the Comets with nine points each. Crooks had four and Mitchell had two.

As for her seniors, Rippentrop will miss them.

“I want to say ‘thank you’ to the seniors for setting such amazing examples to the younger girls and for what their hard work and dedication have done for our team. I’m going to miss each one of these girls, but I’m excited to see what they do with their lives and see the impact they make on our world.”

And now the off-season begins. That means skill workouts, fundamentals, and improvement.

After all, mid-November 2016 will be here before we know it. And it will bring another basketball season with it.