Pirates take home two victories with wins over TV and Kee

By Gary Simmons, Sr.
POSTVILLE - The Trojans made a stop in Postville for an Upper Iowa Conference contest last Tuesday (January 25th) to take on the Pirates. After three quarters of play the two teams were all knotted at 46 points apiece. The Pirates (1-2, 1-11) managed to outscore Turkey Valley (3-2, 8-6) in the final quarter 17 to 16 to take home the first win of the season 63-62.
Turkey Valley held a five point lead after the first quarter 17-12 and increased that lead to eight points by halftime 30-22. It looked like Postville might go winless once again.
After the break the Pirates found their offensive rhythm and outscored the Trojans by 8 points 24-17 tying the game at 46 points each. Postville outscored Turkey Valley 17 to 16 in the final quarter to win by one point 63-62.
The Pirates were led by senior Aandi Deering with 22 points. Teammate Nick Zieman added 15 points and 12 of those points came from beyond the three point line. Senior guard Matt Moore also hit two 3 pointers on his way to collecting 11 points in the Pirates win.
Postville shot 38% from the field hitting 19 of 50 baskets from the floor (7 of 17 from 3 point range). Turkey Valley hit 53% from the floor on 23 of 43 shooting (3 of 7 from 3 point range).
SUMNER - The Pirates were on the road after tasting victory against Turkey Valley for the first time this season. The "Pack the Gym" night at Sumner-Fredericksburg was just that as there was standing room only. Postville came out a little flat on the offensive end of the court allowing the Cougars to take a 29-11 halftime lead. The Pirates intensity and the defense came to life in the second half as Postville outscored Sumner-Fredericksburg 18 points to 12 points in the third quarter and forced the Cougars into a stall game to hold on to the 14 point victory 54-40.
This game seemed to get away from the Pirates early as the Cougars did just about what they wanted to do in the first to quarter of the game jumping out to a commanding 18 point halftime lead.
Head Coach Mike Sass must have given a good speech at the half as the Pirates emerged as a new team. The intensity was up and the players were finding the shooters as Postville pulled to within 10 points (39-29) late in the third quarter.
Feeling the pressure from the renewed play and energy of the Pirates the Cougars Head Coach Jim Stewart went into a stall game that ended up becoming a free throw shooting contest for Sumner/Fredericksburg to win the game.
Postville (1-3,1-12) was able to overcome both the lead and the stall game as the Cougars (5-0, 11-2) hit their free throws down the stretch to win by a score of 54-40. But not before Postville's Tom Catterson hit a three pointer from almost mid court as final buzzer sounded, ending the game with an exclamation mark.
The Pirates were once again led by senior Aandi Deering with 15 points as he was 3 for 3 from beyond the 3 point arch. Tom Catterson finished with 7 points and Darren Kraus 6 points for the Pirates.
POSTVILLE - This past Saturday the Pirates played a make-up game that had originally been scheduled for Friday, January 21st against the Kee High Hawks. Postville's big second quarter surge on offensive and the defensive ends of the court carried them to their second win this season 55-44.
The first quarter had the Pirates looking at a six point deficit with the score 14-8. A big second quarter score-a-thon netting 22 points for the Pirates and a stingy defense that held the Hawks to only 5 points, gave Postville a 30-19 halftime lead.
The scoring evened out over the next two quarter as each team scored 25 points. Postville outscored Kee High by three points in the third quarter (15-12) and the Hawks outscored Postville by three in the final frame (13-10).
Three Pirates scored in double digits led by Aandi Deering with 20 points teammates Matt Moore and Darren Kraus each added 10 points each. Nick Zieman led the team in rebounds with 10.
The Pirates hit 21-53 shoots from the floor (1-8 from 3 point range) for 39% while Kee High hit 17-50 from the floor (3-17 from 3 point line) for 34 %.
Postville won two out of the last three ball games as the Pirates improve to 2-3 in the Upper Iowa Conference and 2-12 overall.
The Pirates played the Hawks from North Fayette last night and will travel this Friday to Monona to play the MFL MarMac Bulldogs. Next Tuesday (February 8th) the West Central Blue Devils come to town.