Rock Valley, Iowa — The Sheldon Orabs went on the road Tuesday evening and came up short in two hard fought games against Rock Valley in Siouxland Conference action. The Orab girls came up short 70-52 and the boys would fall 62-59.
The first quarter was fast paced with both teams committing several turnovers and Rock Valley would lead 7-5 after one. The Rockets full court press would take the Orabs out of their offense and force some turnovers and Rock Valley would capitalize on an 11-point quarter from Lexi Van Kekerix and would lead at the break 27-14. The third quarter was filled with lots of action resulting in both teams scoring 25 points each in the frame and the Rockets led 52-39 at the end of the third with Abby Heemstra scoring 17 of her game high 28 in the frame. Rock Valley would carry that momentum into the fourth quarter and went on for the win, 70-52.
The Rockets were led in scoring with Heemstra’s 28 and Lexi Van Kekerix put in 24. The Orabs had three players in double figures led by Claire Johnson with 16 and 14 a piece form Brooklyn Grady and Maliah Kleinhesselink.
The Rockets would end the regular season with a 12-9 overall record and 10-8 in the conference. Sheldon would end their regular season with a 4-18 overall record and 3-15 in the Siouxland.
Next up for the Orabs will be first round tournament action in Class 3A Region 6 on Saturday evening on Orange City taking on MOC-FV at 7:00pm. The Rockets will host Boyden-Hull on Saturday evening at 7:00pm in Class 2A Region 7.
The Sheldon boys came out on fire with strong defense and pushed out to an 11-0 lead prompting a timeout form the Rockets with 2:49 left in the first quarter and the Orabs would lead 17-6 after one. The Orabs and the Rockets battled back and forth but the Orabs would lead 30-25 going into the halftime break. The Orabs pushed there lead to 37-27 early in the third and would maintain a 47-39 lead after three frames fueled by 8 points from Shane Brouwer. The fourth quarter was wild and crazy as the Rockets stepped up took their defensive pressure and would take their first lead of the game at the 3:50 mark, 54-53. The rest of the game was back and forth, and the Rockets would hang on for a 62-59 victory.
The Rockets were led in scoring by Bryson Van Grootheest with 15, Landyn Van Kekerix added 13 and Sam Remmerde had 10 points. Sheldon had four players in double figures led by Brouwer with 18 points, 15 from Blake Radke, 13 from Tye Sudbeck and 11 from Kaleb Ackerman.
The Rockets are 16-4 overall and 14-3 in the conference Sheldon would fall to 8-13 overall and 5-12 in the Siouxland.
The Orabs will be at home Friday evening for their final regular season contest as Okoboji comes to town. Rock Valley will host Central Lion in their final regular season game.
