The West Fork girls basketball team, fueled by three starters who scored in double digits, secured a 61-42 win over North Iowa in a Top of Iowa Conference crossover and their season opener on Tuesday.
In the first quarter, following a North Iowa 7-2 lead, West Fork rallied behind a full court press to take a 14-7 lead. The Warhawks led 14-11 by the quarter’s end. In the second quarter, the Warhawks soared with help from transition offense to go on a 16-5 scoring run and led 30-16 at the break. The Warhawks continued to play with an uptempo pace in the third quarter, outscoring the Bison 23-15 to take a 53-31 into the final quarter. The Warhawks maintained a 20 point lead throughout the final quarter to seal the opening night win. Head Coach Rodney Huber.
“There’s a lot of unknowns with this group, a lot of new faces, even girls that have played are in different roles. I think it’s just a little bit of a monkey off the back, so to speak. It takes a little pressure off the girls. Showing them that this season can still be very good, even though we’ve lost a lot and we’re adjusting,” says Huber. “They’re hard workers. They are very coachable kids. To see them have success is really gratifying.”
Evie Hitzhusen had 20 points, Zada Huff had 19 points including four three-pointers and Brylee Dickman added 13 points to lead the Warhawks. Hitzhusen shares what she was seeing on the floor.
“The first half I was like, I’m just going to pass the ball to my teammates. I’m super confident in them and they can do everything basically,” says Hitzhusen. “Then the second half I was like, I got to get some confidence in myself. I started driving and then that was helping me get my confidence.”
Huff shares what helped the Warhawks transition play.
“I think we have a lot of athletic girls that are able to look up and are ready to pass it to open girls. I think we’ve always played like this,” says Huff. “I think it carried from middle school when we played up and down with other girls. We just really know how to play together and that chemistry is there.”
West Fork (1-0) will travel to #9 (3A) Forest City on Monday, December 1.
