Earlham’s speed too much for Baxter girls

BAXTER — The Baxter girls basketball team had no trouble matching up with Earlham’s size during a non-conference contest on Thursday.

But the Cardinals were just too fast and their big second quarter propelled them to a 56-42 road win over the Bolts.

“We didn’t handle their pressure or their speed,” Baxter head girls basketball coach Kyle Krampe said. “That was the difference in the game. We played with them in the first quarter, and I thought we battled in the second half.

“Their ball pressure and speed made us play faster than what our comfort level is.”

Earlham led Baxter by only four after one quarter, but the visitors won the second 17-3 to stay in front for good. The Bolts won the second half 28-24.

The Cardinals came into the game averaging only 20 rebounds per game. Baxter grabbed 35 boards in the contest but turned the ball over 26 times in the loss.

“We have a lot of young kids making a lot of young mistakes,” Krampe said. “That’s a skilled team. Every one of those girls can run, shoot and pass. They shot the ball really well. We tried to change things up to keep them guessing, but give them credit. They did a nice job.”

The Bolts led 5-3 early after Emie Tuhn buried a 3-pointer and Kendall Brummel scored inside.

Baxter maintained an 8-5 lead following a layup by Kamdyn Krampe and a free throw from Kaylyn Krampe.

Karlee Koehler’s 3 swelled the lead to 11-7, but Earlham scored the final eight of the period to lead 15-11 after one.

The run eventually hit 10-0, and the Cardinals scored the final 15 points of the second quarter to lead 32-14 at halftime.

“Size-wise that’s a team we matched up with,” Coach Krampe said. “But speed-wise, maybe not. They were quicker than we are 1-5, but we matched up with them fine on the boards. We rebounded the ball extremely well but just have to take care of it better when we have it.”

Earlham won the third 20-14 and most of that damage came early. Olivia Nixt started the second half with a layup and then buried back-to-back 3s to push the margin to 40-15.

Koehler countered with a 3 and then Kamdyn Krampe and Koehler buried back-to-back triples to close the gap to 45-24. Four free throws from Tuhn late in the period helped Baxter get to within 52-30 after three.

A 12-4 advantage in the fourth helped the final deficit look better. Kamdyn Krampe scored five of her team-high 12 points in the frame and the Bolts ended the game on a 9-0 run that included a 3 from Tuhn, two free throws from Kamdyn Krampe and layups from Kaylyn Krampe and Koehler.

Tuhn led the Bolts with 12 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals. Kamdyn Krampe added 12 points and five boards and Koehler totaled 11 points and four rebounds.

Tuhn and Kamdyn Krampe are averaging a combined 31 points per game but Koehler’s per-game average is now up to eight points. Finding a third scorer would be big for Baxter down the stretch.

“(Koehler) can shoot it extremely well. Her doing that is huge for our team. We are looking for another scorer,” Coach Krampe said. “We are trying to find that third option and that extra shooter. They face guarded (Tuhn) the entire night. They made sure she didn’t beat them.”

Brummel finished with four points, eight rebounds, three assists and three steals, Kaylyn Krampe tallied three points, nine boards, three assists, two steals and two blocks and Avery Wonders pulled down three boards.

The Bolts were plagued by 28.6 percent shooting and they turned it over 26 times. They finished 6-of-23 from 3 and 12-of-18 from the free-throw line.

Nixt led the Cardinals (6-9) with 14 points, while Avrie Fagan added 13 and Darby Moore put in 10.

North Tama 50, Baxter 47

TRAER — The Bolts made 10 3-pointers and led by five at halftime, but North Tama rallied with a strong third frame and downed Baxter 50-47 in Iowa Star Conference South Division action on Tuesday.

Baxter was hindered by 18 turnovers, got out-rebounded 39-30 and shot only 29.6 percent from the floor.

Tuhn finished with 24 points, six rebounds, three assists and four steals to lead the Bolts. She was 6-of-17 from 3.

Kamdyn Krampe added 11 points, 11 rebounds, two assists and two blocks and Koehler scored 10 points.

Tuhn, Kamdyn Krampe and Koehler accounted for 45 of the team’s 47 points, but Brummel chipped in eight rebounds, three assists and two blocks. Kaylyn Krampe dished out four assists and Hannah Huffaker grabbed three rebounds.

Baxter (8-7, 6-3 in the conference) was 10-of-40 from 3 and made 5-of-10 from the foul line.

Baxter is 14-2 against North Tama since 2017, but the Redhawks have won two of the last three contests. The two teams split the season series after the Bolts won at home earlier this season.

Ava Breakenridge led North Tama (7-7, 6-3) with 21 points, 11 rebounds, five assists and six steals. Kruiz Ewoldt added eight points and seven boards.

The Redhawks shot 36.7 percent from the floor, made 1-of-10 from 3 and hit 5-of-15 from the foul line.

BCLUW 70, Baxter 56

BAXTER — Tuhn put in 28 points and made six 3-pointers, but a slow start plagued the Bolts during an Iowa Star Conference South Division home loss to BCLUW on Friday.

Baxter trailed by seven after one and went into halftime down 11 before falling to the Comets, 70-56.

It was the third straight loss for the Bolts, who dropped to 2-8 against BCLUW since 2017. The Comets have won four straight in the series.

Tuhn added three rebounds and three assists to her 28 points. She was 4-of-4 from the foul line and 6-of-14 from 3.

Kamdyn Krampe totaled 15 points, five rebounds and two steals. She was 5-of-7 from the charity stripe.

Koehler finished with five points, three rebounds and three assists, Brummel registered four points, eight boards and three steals and Huffaker contributed four rebounds and two steals. Wonders grabbed two rebounds.

The Bolts shot 29 percent from the floor, made 9-of-33 from 3 and buried 11-of-13 from the foul line. They turned the ball over 14 times and BCLUW out-rebounded them 49-25.

The Comets (10-4, 9-0) got 23 points and 11 rebounds from Savannah Moeller and 14 points, 14 rebounds and five assists from Grace Farnsworth.

BCLUW shot 46.6 percent from the floor, made 7-of-20 from 3 and hit 9-of-18 from the foul line. The Comets won their fourth straight game despite committing 18 turnovers