Comets’ season ends with 71-63 loss to Mustangs in Class 3A-Substate 4 first-round game

By John Burbridge

sports@charlescitypress.com

INDEPENDENCE —Charles City head basketball coach Dave Rottinghaus acted out a role similar to Gene Hackman’s in the classic movie Hoosiers.

In the flick, Hackman’s Coach Norman Dale doesn’t allow a fifth and the only other available player to re-enter the game because the benched player disobeyed one of the coaches dictums earlier in the game, even though it gave his team a four-on-five disadvantage.

Like Coach Dale, Coach Rottinghaus didn’t budge on principle when he didn’t play most of his starters in the first half during the Comets’ Class 3A-Substate 4 first-round (quarterfinal) game against Independence on Monday.

But unlike in Hoosiers, Rottinghaus made such a statement during an elimination game.

“We had some internal issues,” Rottinghaus said after his team was defeated by the Mustangs 71-63. “We had some misconduct on the team. We dealt with it, made our decision and prepared for the last three days for what we were going to do.

“All I can say is we got a great effort from the guys we had in there in the first half. A lot of those guys have been working hard on our jayvee team and haven’t got much playing time on varsity. I’m proud of those guys. (The Mustangs) hit those 3-pointers at the beginning and jumped out to a 9-0 lead, and we couldn’t close the gap from there.”

Mustang junior Dawson Fuelling led all scorers with 24 points. His 3-point field goal put Independence up by 20 (54-34) with 4:26 left in the third quarter.

With more of Charles City’s starters and stat leaders back in the lineup in the second half, the Comets were able to make a run with a little more than three minutes left in regulation.

Sophomore Henry Ruzicka was able to twist and turn in the lane before draining a 5-footer which got Charles City within 10 (65-55). What made the play even more concerning for the Mustang fans was that if provoked a technical foul from Independence’s bench that complained of a no three-seconds-in-the-lane call on Ruzicka.

That gave the Comets two free-throw shots and ball on the side.

The sequence could have been a game-changer, but Charles City missed both ends of the FT opportunity, and missed two more FTs after an offensive rebound on the second miss drew another foul.

Ruzicka later drove and finished at the rim to get the Comets within single-digits (65-57) with 1:46 left in regulation.

Charles City still wouldn’t go away and pulled within two possessions (66-60) with a little more than 40 seconds remaining, but the Mustangs were able to convert most of their free throws when the Comets were forced to foul, and advanced to Thursday’s semifinal where they will face No. 2-ranked Decorah, which advanced by way 77-52 first-round win over Clinton.

Ruzicka led the Comets with 19 points — all scored in the second half.

Comet junior Jesus Villagomez scored 18 — most in the first half — and junior Victor Ward scored 16 and dished out five assists for Charles City (8-14).

“It’s been a learning experience, but I love these guys,” Rottinghaus said of his first year as Charles City’s boys head coach after coaching the Comet girls team for two seasons. “We’ve got a lot to build on, but we still got a long way to go.”

Class 3A-Substate 4 Quarterfinal

INDEPENDENCE 71, CHARLES CITY 63

Scoring By Quarters

Charles City 10 17 16 20 — 63

Independence 16 27 18 10 — 71

Individual Scoring

CHARLES CITY — Victor Ward 16, Nick Williams 4, Henry Ruzicka 19, Jesus Villagomez 18, Brennan Ruzicka 3, Bennett Hansen 4.

INDEPENDENCE — Aden Gunningham 4, Brayden Ridder 13, Crayton Iversen 10, Ethan Cahalan 9, Bryce Christian 5, Dawson Fuelling 24, Brady Kurt 6.

RECORDS — Independence 9-13, Charles City 8-14