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High School
Bulldog Standout Kramer Picks South Dakota
College football's National Signing Day was special for Ottumwa High three-sport star Ben Kramer. The standout football, basketball and baseball player for the Bulldogs signed a national letter of intent on Wednesday to play football for the University of South Dakota.
Kramer played quarterback, wide receiver and safety for the Ottumwa football team, earning second-team all-state and first-team all-conference honors as a senior. In 2011, he threw for 291 yards and two touchdowns as a QB, rushed for 588 yards and 11 TDs, and recorded 282 receiving yards with four touchdown receptions. He led the Bulldogs in total offense, touchdowns and points scored. Kramer also led the team in tackles defensively, and tied for the team lead in interceptions.
Regional Pairings for OHS Girls' Hoops
The IGHSAU regional basketball pairings have been announced, and the path to the state tournament has been laid out for the Ottumwa High girls' basketball team. The Bulldogs have been placed in Region 7, and they will host Des Moines Roosevelt in a first-round game on Wednesday, February 15th at 7pm. The matchup will mark the 3rd meeting between the two CIML Metro Conference foes this season. Ottumwa beat Roosevelt 60-51 on December 20th in Des Moines, and will host the Roughriders this coming Friday in their second regular-season tilt.
Should Ottumwa win its postseason matchup, the Bulldogs would advance to a regional semifinal against Dowling Catholic, which received a first-round bye. The matchup would take place on Saturday, February 18th at 7pm in West Des Moines. Ottumwa lost 52-50 in overtime at home to Dowling, in the second game of the season.
The other half of the regional bracket has Des Moines North playing at Indianola in the first round, with the winner advancing to play Waukee in the regional semifinal. If Ottumwa defeats both Roosevelt and Dowling to reach the regional final, Waukee would be the likely opponent. The regional final is scheduled for Tuesday, February 21st at 7pm in Urbandale.
College
Cyclones Rally From 14 Down to Stun K-State
(press release courtesy of cyclones.com)
Royce White buried a baseline jumper with 0:01.8 seconds left to help Iowa State overcome a 14-point second-half deficit in a 72-70 win over Kansas State Tuesday night.
Iowa State (16-6 overall, 6-3 Big 12 Conference) was down 14 points with 14 minutes left but kept fighting back. Chris Allen had 12 second-half points to help the Cyclones end a five-game losing skid to KSU (15-6 overall, 4-5 Big 12) in Hilton Coliseum. It was the second improbable comeback for the Cyclones in their last three home games, as the Iowa State has already doubled its conference win total from last season (3-13).
White was again the hero. The sophomore tallied 22 points, his fourth 20-point game of the season and grabbed eight rebounds. Allen ended the game with 15 points.
Kansas State controlled the first half with its outside shooting and rebounding. The Wildcats outboarded the Cyclones, 21-13 in the opening stanza, including seven on the offensive end.
Jamar Samuels hit a trey from the corner with 0:37 seconds left in the first to give KSU a 36-29 lead at the break. KSU was averaging just five 3-pointers a game, but buried five on eight attempts in the first half. Martavious Irving had 11 points on 3-of-3 shooting from long range.
KSU increased its lead to 14 points (53-39) when Samuels hit his second 3-pointer. The Wildcats made 6-of-7 shots from the floor to open the second half. ISU managed to cut the lead to seven points (53-46) after a Chris Babb 3-pointer with 13:04 left in the game.
Iowa State then went on a run. Chris Allen buried a trey from the corner to slash KSU's lead to 60-58 at the 7:53 mark, but Will Spradling answered with a trey to put the Wildcats back up, 63-58.
The Cyclones cut it to two points and had a chance to tie, but a White miss was followed by an Adrian Diaz bucket to put KSU up 67-63 with 3:09 left in the game.
A White bucket made it 70-69 KSU, then the Cyclones got a stop and Chris Babb was fouled with 0:49 seconds left. He made the first free-throw to tie the game, but Melvin Ejim got the offensive board on the second miss. Iowa State then had a chance for the final shot and White delivered.
Iowa State travels to Oklahoma on Saturday. Tipoff is set for 5 p.m. CST on ESPN2.
Iowa Stops Gophers, Snaps Skid
(release courtesy of hawkeyesports.com)
The University of Iowa men's basketball team rallied from a 10 point second half deficit to down Minnesota, 63-59, Wednesday night on Mediacom Court inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
"We didn't panic when we got down 10," said UI head coach Fran McCaffery. "We whittle away at it and there was plenty of time. We made the plays we had to make out of the stretch."
The Hawkeyes appeared to be dead in the water midway through the second half, as the Golden Gophers built a 45-35 advantage with 12:21 to play. The Hawkeyes responded with 16-5 run to take a 51-50 lead on a pair of Melsahn Basabe free throws with 5:12 remaining.
Each time Iowa grabbed the momentum, Minnesota had an answer. Julian Welch's long ball at the 4:43 mark gave the Gophers a 53-51 advantage, a deep 3-pointer by Austin Hollins made the score 56-53 with 4:03 remaining and Oto Osenieks' long ball with 3:24 left put Minnesota up 59-54.
From there, the Hawkeyes took over. Roy Devyn Marble nailed a 3-pointer from the corner to make it a two point game. On the next possession, Marble had a one-handed slam over 6-foot-11 center Ralph Sampson III to tie the game at 59.
"As soon as I saw the lane, I knew I was going to do that," said Marble, who finished with 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting. "They were blocking my shot in the first half, and I was getting upset, so I said `I am going to do this and see how it goes' and it was positive.
"I don't go on the top floor too often, but I had a business meeting tonight, and I took care of business."
Iowa got a stop on the next possession when Bryce Cartwright knocked the ball loose from Sampson before driving the length of the floor and drawing the foul. He made both free throws -- after missing his previous two attempts at the 2:59 mark -- to make the score 61-59.
With a six second differential in the game and shot clock, Marble delivered again to seal the game. With the shot clock winding down, Marble drove to the basket, avoided Sampson and dumped it to a wide-open Gatens to send Carver-Hawkeye Arena into a frenzy.
"I knew I was going to get it to Matt, I just had to find a way how," said Marble. "I kind of had to dive and get it around the big man, but I knew I had enough time."
"Devyn played great, he made big baskets for us," said sophomore Zach McCabe, who grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds. "He played really good all game and when we needed him the most he was there."
Gatens paced the Hawkeyes with 18 points on 7-of-14 shooting. Iowa shot 37.5 percent (21-of-56) from the floor and out rebounded the Gophers, 39-35, which included 16 offensive rebounds.
"They really hung in there and got the win, one that we thought we had the game at hand," said Minnesota head coach Tubby Smith. "They made some clutch plays down the stretch and we didn't. It was a good win for them and a tough loss for us."
Iowa opened the game strong defensively, limiting the Gophers to 1-of-8 shooting over the first eight minutes and forcing nine turnovers. A Basabe steal and coast-to-coast dunk gave Iowa a 13-3 lead at the 11:33 mark and forced a Minnesota timeout.
After the Hawkeyes stretched their lead to 15-3 on a pair of Aaron White free throws, Minnesota began fighting back. Five straight points by Sampson III made the score 17-8 at the 9:27 mark, and a Austin Hollins triple cut the margin to 18-14 with 7:56 to go in the half.
Minnesota fought back to even the game at 24 on a Rodney Williams 3-pointer with 2:07 to go in the half and another Hollins trey have the Gophers their first lead, 27-24 -- a lead they took into the break. Iowa couldn't buy a basket late in the half, missing 16-of-its-final-20 attempts.
The win completed Iowa's first season sweep over Minnesota since the 2007 season. The victory improves the Hawkeyes' record to 12-11 overall and 4-6 in Big Ten play. The Gophers fall to 16-7 overall and 4-6 in conference play.
"It's a big step for us to beat a team of this caliber twice, a team that is that athletic and has been playing that well," said McCaffery. "So now for us, the challenge continues."
The Hawkeyes return to action Saturday afternoon, hosting Penn State at 2 p.m.