Falcon basketball sweeps G-R

PARKERSBURG -- The Aplington-Parkersburg boys basketball team continued its undefeated start to the season with a 75-38 rout of Gladbrook-Reinbeck in Parkersburg on Thursday.

Grant Truax scored 19 points to lead the Falcons, ranked No. 4 in Class 2A in the most recent boys basketball poll from the Associated Press. Alec Oberhauser added 15 points, 11 rebounds, nine assists and three blocks and Junior Bodden contributed 10 points off the bench.

The Falcons (9-0) trailed the Rebels, last season's 1A state runner-up, 9-2, with 4:44 left in the first quarter. From that point on until halftime, A-P outscored G-R 38-7, including a 26-1 run at one point across the end of the first quarter through most of the second.

"We weren't very crisp or sharp to start but I think it was more about effort than execution," A-P head coach Aaron Thomas said. "We made some adjustments to protect the middle better, ... for our first game back from break, I thought we adjusted well.

"We want to keep getting better every day, no matter who we're facing, but we thought this would be a good test as G-R has some history. They've got some inexperienced players out there, and that showed tonight, but anytime you can beat them, it's a good win.

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SLIDESHOW: G-R vs. A-P girls/boys basketball (View all photos as thumbnails)

Ellis notches career-high as Falcons rout Rebels

Aplington-Parkersburg sophomore Jaycie Ellis scored a career-high 20 points, including 14 in the first half, as A-P stormed past Gladbrook-Reinbeck 72-35 in Parkersburg on Thursday.

Megan Johnson added 12 points and eleven total Falcons scored at least two points on Thursday for the highest team total since a 72-37 win over Grundy Center on Dec. 6, 2012.

"A lot of our girls have that potential, but tonight (Ellis) came in and found some easy openings and the girls did a nice job of getting her the ball where she could score it," A-P head coach Jason Berkey said. "It could've been any one of those girls but it was her night tonight and I couldn't be more proud of her."

The Falcons pounded the glass to win the rebounding battle over the Rebels, taking away a key component of Gladbrook-Reinbeck's fast, shoot-first offense. A-P outrebounded G-R 54-26, with Ainsley Brungard leading the Falcons with eight boards.

A-P improved to 5-5 overall with the victory.

"The leading scorer changes every time for us," Ellis said. "We want to get it to whomever's open and get that girl some easy shots with good spacing and tonight happened to be the night they got me the ball."

Read more in the Jan. 10 Eclipse.