Undefeated Thunder stops Comet boys winning streak at 8

By John Burbridge

sports@charlescitypress.com

CHARLES CITY — The impact of a shot blocker doesn’t always appear in the stat line.

For instance, Grand View Christian’s resident 7-foot-tall post presence Daniel Tobiloba was credited with three blocks during the Thunder’s 79-66 win over hosting Charles City Saturday afternoon, halting the Comets’ winning streak at eight games.

But it wasn’t the shots that the Lagos, Nigeria native blocked that allowed the Class 1A No. 2-ranked undefeated Thunder to pull away from the Comets, who they outscored 29-11 in the third quarter after taking a 6-point halftime lead — it was the shots he altered.

To the Comets’ credit, they took it right at Tobiloba resulting in him picking up his fourth foul with 3:19 left in regulation.

One Comet in particular made repeated brave forays to the rim in the face of the towering Tobiloba. Junior Kam Mestas scored a game-high 21 points while deftly using his body, both hands and various backboard ankles to thwart Tobiloba’s defensive efforts.

But Tobiloba was also a force on the offensive end while shooting nine of nine from the field to co-lead his team with fellow senior Josh Sanderson with 20 points.

Tobiloba also had a game-high 11 rebounds and Sanderson dished out a game-high 14 assists for the Thunder (19-0).

Comet senior Chase Low scored 11 of his 14 points in the second half — it was his drive against Tobiloba that initiated the aforementioned fourth foul.

Brennan Schmidt scored 12 points by way of four-of-six shooting from the 3-point arc as his marksmanship helped the Comets jump out to an early lead.

Keenan Wiley scored 10 and co-led the Comets with Mestas with six rebounds, and Jack Hanson dished out a team-high five assists for Charles City (14-4).

* The night before, the Comets improved their Northeast Iowa Conference record to 8-1 with a 62-52 road win over New Hampton.

Kam Mestas scored 19 points and Brennan Schmidt added 17 for the Comets.

New Hampton (8-11, 3-6 NEIC) was led by Gannon Shekleton, who scored a game-high 22 points.

Going into Tuesday’s home game against NEIC rival Waukon, Charles City could clinch a share of the conference title with a win over the Indians.

Waverly-Shell Rock, with one more conference game at Decorah on Friday, also has an 8-1 NEIC record.

* In the girls game of Friday’s Charles City-at-New Hampton varsity doubleheader, the Comets made an early bid for their first NEIC victory of the season while taking a 15-10 lead in the first quarter.

The Chickasaws responded with a 9-0 run before the Comets hit a 3-pointer to make it a 1-point game (19-18).

But New Hampton went on to outscore Charles City 45-11 in the second and third quarters on way to winning 74-33.

Chickasaw all-state shooting guard Carlee Rochford scored a game-high 27 points for New Hampton (9-10, 3-6).

On Monday, the Comet girls lost on the road at Mason City by a score of 78-39.

Charles City (1-18) trailed the Class 4A No. 15-ranked Riverhawks by just 6 points at the half (28-22) before Mason City (11-6) pulled away in the second half.

Machaela Trask and Reggi Spotts each scored 20 to lead the Riverhawks.

Senior Ava Ellis led the Comets with 18 points with Maggie Boss (8), Lauren Staudt (4), Hannah Hoffman (3), Delaney Ruzicka (2), Janila Toney (2) and Nakila Toney (1) rounding out the scoring for Charles City.

Boys Varsity

GRAND VIEW CHRISTIAN 79, CHARLES CITY 66

Scoring By Quarters

GVC 22 13 29 15 — 79

CC 19 10 11 26 — 66

Individual Scoring

GRAND VIEW CHRISTIAN — Frankie Chiodo 14, Josh Sanderson 20, Emiliano Barrantes 3, Daniel Tobiloba 20, Noah John 12, Brayden Hoben 10.

CHARLES CITY — Jack Hanson 7, Brennan Schmidt 12, Keenan Wiley 10, Chase Low 14, Kayden Kasemeier 2, Kam Mestas 21.

RECORDS — Charles City 14-4, Grand View Christian 19-0

CHARLES CITY 62, NEW HAMPTON 52

Scoring By Quarters

CC 16 12 21 13 — 62

NH 13 10 7 22 — 52

Individual Scoring

CHARLES CITY — Jack Hanson 6, Brennan Schmidt 17, Keenan Wiley 4, Chase Low 12, Kam Mestas 19, Drew Martin 2.

NEW HAMPTON — Ben Gilbert 11, Adam Ewert 5, Gannon Shekleton 22, Aiden Roberson 2, Cael Laures 10, Nick Brincks 2.

RECORDS — Charles City 8-1 Northeast Iowa Conference, New Hampton 8-11, 3-6 NEIC