Eisbach triple double helps Wolverines edge Warhawks on the road

Fresh off a stretch of four games in five days, the Nodaway Valley girls basketball team’s scheduled lightened up a bit in the last seven days with just two games to play.

The Wolverines continued on a six-game road swing, however, with games against Lenox and Southeast Warren, as the fourth and fifth road games in that timeframe. The games were a split for NV.

NV saw its Pride of Iowa Conference mark improve to 6-6 with a 48-47 win at Southeast Warren, and their overall record climbed to 6-10. The Wolverines have five regular season games remaining, including the three scheduled for this week — a road trip Tuesday to Southwest Valley, a home game Friday against Martensdale-St. Marys for Senior Night and a road trip to non-conference foe Earlham on Saturday.

The Wolverines surely have the game Friday circled, but they want to give effort every time out.

“It’s a big game (MStM). We had to try to come back in the second half down there earlier this season and we just couldn’t get close enough. They will be tough rebounding the ball. We got some good shots but just didn’t knock them down,” said Nodaway Valley head coach Brian Eisbach. “We are playing with confidence and I think that we will have a good game.”

Against Lenox, the Wolverines almost snapped what was then a three-game losing streak Jan. 21. The game pitted two of the top players in the league against each other in NV’s Izzy Eisbach and Lenox’s Sadie Cox. Eisbach poured in 46, including five 3-pointers, and shot 7-of-9 from the free throw line. She also had nine rebounds and five assists. On the other side, Cox went for 40 points and corraled 20 rebounds, shooting 18-of-25 from the floor and 4-of-5 at the free throw line. She had eight assists, putting her two away from a triple double.

Lenox held a 20-11 lead after the first quarter and again by nine, 39-30, at halftime. After the third quarter, the Wolverines trailed 61-47.

Other highlights were three 3-pointers and nine points total for Maddie Weston. Liv Laughery scored seven. Kacie Ford led with eight rebounds and Mylee Comstock had six.

A triple double by Eisbach helped the Wolverines in the Southeast Warren game Friday. She finished with 27 points, 12 rebounds and 12 steals. This including a 9-of-10 effort at the free throw line. Weston added 13 points, including making three 3-pointers, and Comstock led with eight rebounds, along with four points.

“Izzy is a gamer. It’s good to have those type of games where everything is clicking,” said Eisbach. “We have battled sickness and injuries. We talked about after, how you win as a team, you lose as a team. It was a good win for us.”

Two Southeast Warren players were in double-digit scoring with Jessica Lillig posting 22 and Kate Logue 15.

The game was tied at 10 after the first quarter as the two teams matched each other’s point total. The Wolverines scored two more points than the Warhawks in the second quarter to take a 21-19 halftime lead. Nodaway Valley held a 33-30 lead after three quarters. In the final quarter, the Warhawks outscored Nodaway Valley 17-15, but could not get past the final margin.