Colfax boys clip Spring Valley Cardinals’ wings

SPRING VALLEY — It may have been the only game of the week for the Colfax boys’ basketball team but they took care of business quickly when they traveled to Spring Valley and crushed the Cardinals 75-46 Nov. 30. It was Spring Valley’s first game of the season and they were no match for the Vikings on either end of the court.

Austin Huss and Lane Olson made their 2012 debut for the Vikings and both made up for lost time as Huss completely dominated the game, scoring 20 of his game high 24 points in the first half alone. Olson finished with 10 points in his first game back.

After taking a 27-7 lead after the first quarter, Huss hit a trio of buckets and Olson added  a pair of free tosses to keep the lead at 20 points at 35-15. Huss hit a floater and Olson connected from underneath which was followed by an end to end layup with a free throw by Ethin Kiekhafer to bring the score to 42-19 midway through the second quarter. Jarrod Rudi canned the first three pointer of his high school career and Huss finished off the half with another deuce off of his own rebound for a 49-22 halftime lead.

“We got off to a very strong start offensively and I think our size inside was difficult for them to handle,” Colfax coach Andy Meade said. “Getting Huss and Olson back really changes the way we look as a team. It gives us a lot more size and creates problems for our opponents on both the offensive and defensive ends of the court.”

Spring Valley went on a four point roll to start the third quarter but Huss responded with two baskets while Olson added one in between. Sawyer DeMoe connected for two buckets along with a free toss and the Vikings went into the final stanza with a 61-31 lead.

DeMoe canned two free tosses and hit a shot from the paint to start the fourth, Joe Wahl added a bucket to go with a lay up by Ben Kragness and Cody Zivcic put the finishing touches on the game with a lay up.

“We had a huge game out of Kiekhafer,” Meade said. “It seemed like he got every rebound that came near him. He played great in all phases of the game. We also had very solid play out of our young guards. Jeremiah Wait and Rudi gave us great minutes and both were very poised and tough,” he added.

As a team, Colfax went 12 of 18 from the foul stripe with Kiekhafer hitting five of five, ending with 12 points in the game.

The Vikings will be busy this week with three games in five days as they travel to Amery Tuesday, Dec. 4, play at home Thursday in a conference matchup against Boyceville, then play at Eau Claire Regis Saturday at 1:30.

COLFAX (75) Huss 10-3-5-24, Kiekhafer 3-5-5-8, Olson 4-2-2-10, Rudi 4-0-0-9, Zivcic 4-0-0-8, DeMoe 3-2-3-8, Wahl 1-0-0-2, Kragness 1-0-2-2

SPRING VALLEY (46) Z. Webster 3-5-8-11, J. Helmer 4-0-0-10, B. Becker 4-0-0-10, N. Kalmes 2-3-5-7, T. Rudesill 3-0-0-6, B. Bednarek 1-0-1-2

Three Pointers: Becker 2, Helmer 2, Rudi 1, Huss 1, Kiekhafer 1