Moenck's 300th highlights MV's three-win week

Girls basketball

     A week in which head coach Scot Moenck picked up his 300^th career coaching victory – and beyond – also gave the top-ranked (Class 2A) Maquoketa Valley Wildcats three more wins.

     Moenck’s milestone came Jan. 12 at Sprngville, where the Wildcats (10-0, 14-0) pulled out a big 49-38 victory. Trailing 10-8 after one quarter, the Wildcats rallied for a 27-22 halftime lead, and then outscored the Orioles 22-17 in the second half.

     “It reminded me that I am not getting any younger, that’s for sure,” Moenck said, tongue in cheek. He added: “I have been lucky to have the same coaches with me for a long time, which has really helped. Brad Huber, Ali Schermman, Jesse Wooten and Heidi Hoeger all truly care about thd kids and the overall success of the program. I’m just happy for our kids in all their successes.”

     Ella Imler led the Wildcats in scoring that night, with 17 points. Emerson Whittenbauch had 16 points, and Taya Tucker had 11 points, eight rebounds and five steals. Kylie Chesnut contributed seven rebounds.

     “It’s for sure not easy to get a win on (Springville’s) floor,” Moenck said. “I really felt we defended well, we did a good job of recognizing shooters and getting out on them, for the most part.”

     Moenck’s teams earned two more wins last week. One of those was Jan. 14 at Monticello, a 39-24 triumph. Imler had 11 points and five assists. Carissa Sabers had 10 points. Whittenbaugh pulled down 10 rebounds, and Chesnut had eight.

     “I was very pleased with how a lot of kids stepped up in this game,” Moenck said. “Carissa, Kennedy (Rausch) and Kylie all played great. This was a physical game and both teams played very hard.”

     Then, at Edgewood-Colesburg Jan. 15, Maquoketa Valley came back from a 14-8 first quarter deficit to outscore the Vikings 51-20 the rest of the way, winning 59-34. Statistics for that game were unavailable at press time.

Boys basketball

     Maquoketa Valley opened a busy week of boys basketball by gradually building a 12-point lead through three quarters, and defeating Alburnett 61-52 Jan. 11 in Delhi. Avery Holtz scored 23 points, shooting 5-for-8 from three-point range, whiel A.J. Ambundo and Andrew Holtz added 13 points apiece. Miguel Bojorquez had five rebounds. Andrew Holtz had five assists, and Avery Holtz had four.

     The Wildcats (4-4, 7-7) then suffered a 60-35 loss at Springville Jan. 12. MV held a one-point lead after one quarter, but the Orioles outscored the Wildcats 37-9 over the middle two quarters to seize control. Owen Mensen led MV in scoring with nine points, and Avery Holtz had eight points and three assists. Mitch Heims, Lucas Orcutt and Ambundo had four rebounds apiece.

     MV then traveled to Monticello for a Jan. 14 game, and lost 66-45. Orcutt came off the bench to lead MV in scoring with 10 points, and Heims had nine. Ambundo had five rebounds, and Avery Holtz had five assists.

Wrestling

     Maquoketa Valley competed in a double dual meet at Midland of Wyoming Jan. 14, and went 1-1 for the night. The Wildcats lost 54-18 to Midland, and defeated Central City 30-9.

     MV received three forfeit wins against Midland. In the Central City match, Tyreese Crippen won by fall, and there were four forfeit victories for the Wildcats.

     At the MFL MarMac tournament Jan. 16, the Wildcats had seven wrestlers compete, and five of them placed. Michael Schaul was second at 145 pounds, and Carter Kruse finished second at 183. In third was Timmy Harmon at 195. Placing sixth were Brady Davis at 220 and Devin Smith at 285.

     The Wildcats were eighth as a team with 64 points, Crestwood was the runaway champion with 285 points, beating runner-up MFL MarMac by 92.

     “It was a good day for us,” MV coach Kurt Hatfield said. “We went in this tournament with the attitude of nothing to lose, and it showed. I think the kids are starting to believe in themselves as much as we do.”