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Strong finish leads Comets past Chickasaws, 56-48

Press photo by John Burbridge Charles City senior Noah Schlader pushes the ball upcourt after recording one of his five steals. He his pursued by New Hampton’s Jacob Zwanziger (No. 22) and Keagan John (No. 14).
Press photo by John Burbridge
Charles City senior Noah Schlader pushes the ball upcourt after recording one of his five steals. He is pursued by New Hampton’s Jacob Zwanziger (No. 22) and Keagan John (No. 14).
By John Burbridge sports@charlescitypress.com

NEW HAMPTON — It’s never a good night to have a bad shooting night.

But New Hampton’s gym is one of the worst places to have one.

With their paint-eating bulk protecting the defensive glass, the Chickasaws tend to only allow you one shot per possession. And often you don’t get to shoot again for quite awhile as New Hampton, with its patient half-court offense, is more than willing to settle for a high-scoring football-like final.

Early on in its Northeast Iowa Conference matchup on Tuesday, visiting Charles City struggled a bit within the Chickasaws’ quagmire while trailing for most of the first half.

But after tying the game at 37 going into the fourth quarter, Charles City managed to pull away at the end thanks to some clutch defense and improved shooting and rebounding to win in a 56-48 final.

Comet junior Jackson Molstead led all scorers with 21 points, though he struggled at the free throw line and only hit one 3-pointer. But the single trey put Charles City up for good (46-45) late in the fourth quarter.

Mike Cranshaw and Cade Hemesath each had 11 points for the Comets, who won their fifth game in a row while improving to 5-1 overall and 3-0 in the NEIC.

Hemesath initially gave a Comets the lead early in the fourth after recording three offensive rebounds Dennis Rodman style before finally scoring the putback.

Cranshaw, who tied the game at 31 with a left-handed finish made possible from a Molstead steal and assist, helped seal the game by going 3 of 4 at the free-throw line in the final minute.

Senior Noah Schlader only scored 3 points for the Comets — that by way of a trey in the third quarter to give the Comets a short-lived lead. But he recorded five steals and limited Chickasaw senior swingman Jacob Zwanziger to just 2 points in the second half while often being matched up against him after Zwanziger scored 15 in the first half.

With an altogether total of 17 points, Zwanziger led the Chickasaw scorers. Senior Keagan John added 15 for New Hampton, which fell to 5-4 and 0-3.

The Comets will be back in action on Friday when they take on Iowa City Liberty at home with a rescheduled start at 6:30 p.m.

Charles City’s next game after that will come after the winter break when it travels to take on NEIC rival Waverly-Shell Rock on Jan. 2.

CHARLES CITY 56, NEW HAMPTON 48

Scoring By Quarters

CHARLES CITY 11 13 13 19 — 56

NEW HAMPTON 13 14 10 11 — 48

CHARLES CITY (56)

Jackson Molstead 21, Mike Cranshaw 11, Bradley Andrews 8, Marcus Cranshaw 2, Noah Schlader 3, Cade Hemesath 11

NEW HAMPTON (48)

Jacob Zwanziger 17, Keagan John 15, Joshua Fenske 6, Dillon Roberson 2, Tyler Rentschler 4, Alex Schumacher 6

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