The North Butler boys and girls basketball teams will travel to Central Springs to make up a postponed Top of Iowa Conference East doubleheader on Friday.
The North Butler boys (2-2, 2-2 TIC-East) have had their last three games decided by a total of five points. That stretch included a home loss to Newman Catholic (47-46) on December 5, a double overtime home win over Saint Ansgar (64-62) December 12 and a double overtime loss at Osage (60-58) on Tuesday. The Bearcats work the ball around offensively with 15.2 assists per game (second most in TIC-East). Jarret Shear with 18 points rules the post for the Bearcats. Head Coach Austin Guerrero says working for the best shot will be of emphasis in the matchup.
“Central Springs will be a group that’s a scrappy bunch and they’ll give us several different looks. They mix in a little bit of man-to-man defense, play a lot of two-three zone and that’s just where our emphasis comes in on working for the best shot,” says Guerrero. “Especially when teams play zone on you that’s not super aggressive, they want you to settle for poor shot opportunities. We’ll just emphasize ball movement and working for that best one. Defensively, I think we can speed them up to get ourselves some easy baskets.”
The Central Springs boys (1-4, 1-1 TIC-East) won their first game 66-64 at West Fork on Tuesday. The Panthers have been tested in the scoring column, averaging 45.8 points per game (second least in TIC-East). Braydin Crum leads the team with 13.6 points and 7.4 rebounds per game.
The North Butler girls (2-4, 1-3 TIC-East) will look to halt a four game slide, which included a down to wire 47-44 loss at Osage on Tuesday. The Bearcats continue to work to make strides on both ends of the floor, in scoring output per game (39.8 points) and opponent points allowed per game (51.2). Eden Wix leads the team with 11.2 points per game.
The Central Springs girls (1-4, 0-3 TIC-East) have lost back to back games including a 52-13 loss at West Fork on Tuesday. The Panthers have had a tough year in the scoring column averaging 19.2 points per game. Riley Ryan leads the team with 4.6 points per game.
Tip off for the girls game is scheduled for 6:15 p.m. followed by the boys game in Manly.
