Blowout first quarter in crushing VG defeat
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By Nolan Morse
A first quarter that saw Cerro Gordo score 38 to a Villa Grove 4 says all you need to know about this game.
Lackadaisical passes, inadequate hustle on defense, and more turnovers than shots attempted, nothing went right for the Blue Devils. Cerro Gordo set a trap defense the entire game that doubled the first pass after half court instantly. VG simply had no response to this, and committed mass turnovers causing the game to get out of hand within the first couple minutes.
An 11–2 run that turned into a 20–2 that ultimately turned into a 30–2 run, Cerro Gordo blew them out of the water before they even tried to swim. The best ball Villa Grove played was on their very first possession where they held a 2–0 lead yet it was all steeply downhill from there.
VG scored on their first possession, then wouldn’t find the net until under a minute remained, they entered the second quarter with their heads down trailing 38–4.
The Devils at least scored points in the second quarter, but that was the one and only slight improvement. At half time the score board showed 52–14, and when asked about the second half game plan and how to keep his players mentally focused on the game, head coach from Villa Grove, Drew Sappenfield, simply said to play one possession at a time without looking at the score board.
Good advice not to look at the score board because it wouldn’t get any better for the Devils. The third quarter came and went with the same song and dance, weak rebounding, poor defense, and no ball security. Jackson Gilles scored the first points with 1:30 remaining, draining a corner three to stop the shutout. The fourth quarter came, Cerro Gordo leading 65–17.
Cerro Gordo subbed their bench and even they piled it on. The only spark of life all night came from a Freshman Peyton Cravens, who in his small time on the court proved he wanted to be out there. Despite the detriment Cravens played hard and with hustle, diving for balls, going for rebounds, and simply showing he liked the game of basketball.
Despite the valiant fourth quarter effort from the Freshman VG fell 72–22, making them 7–14 overall and 2–4 in conference play.
When asked how to recover from a loss like this Sappenfield commented, the team has to put it behind them, come to practice hard, and get ready for the next game.