Too many turnovers plague Baxter boys in loss to Earlham

BAXTER — Too many turnovers and a tough shooting night from long range plagued the Bolts during a non-conference home loss against Earlham on Thursday.

Baxter trailed by just one after one, but the Cardinals inched further and further ahead in every quarter during a 70-51 home loss in non-conference action.

“We turned the ball over way too many times,” Baxter head boys basketball coach Zach Hasselbrink said. “I told the guys if we turn it over 20 times and they make half of those, that’s the difference in the game right there.

“They made a couple shots late in the shot clock. On those you tip your cap and move on. That’s what it felt like at times. But we just turned it over too many times.”

The Bolts scored the first two buckets of the game as Sulzle and Dee made it 4-0 with baskets inside the lane.

Both teams got off to a slow start though as the game was tied at 7-all six minutes in.

“We turned it over six times in our first 10 possessions but played unbelievable defense,” Hasselbrink said. “It was 4-0 and then 5-4 for half the quarter. We were doing what we needed to do defensively. We were in great position, we were talking, we were switching through things and made them make contested shots.”

Earlham’s Carter Hohertz had a team-high 23 points and eight of those came in the final half of the first quarter. His 3-pointer put the Cardinals in front 12-9, but Stadan Vansice converted a layup at the buzzer to trim the Bolts’ margin to one after one.

Six straight points from Eli Dee and Perrin Sulzle moved the Bolts in front 17-14 in the second. The game was tied two times after that before Earlham (9-5) used an 13-2 run to go in front 28-21.

Sulzle scored inside and Vansice connected from deep to melt the Bolts’ deficit to five at the break.

Earlham outscored Baxter 19-13 in the third and 20-12 in the fourth to pull away.

“We knew they had good players.” Hasselbrink said. “For the most part, we did a good job guarding them but good players are going to score. That’s ultimately what it came down to. We made them make tough shots all night, and they started to in the second half. Good teams will do that.

“I hate that it looks like that in the final score because this game felt a lot closer than that.”

Sulzle, who led the Bolts with 23 points, scored twice inside to keep Baxter within six, but Earlham led by 11 after three.

The Cardinals’ lead got to as large as 18 before the final margin. Sulzle scored three straight baskets to trim the deficit to 12, but Earlham finished on a 9-4 run to win by 19.

Sulzle grabbed five boards to go along with his 23 points. Dee, who is averaging 29 points per game this winter, was limited to 13 points, three rebounds and two blocks.

“We’re going to have to really work hard to get him the ball because we’ve seen a lot of box and ones and a lot of 1-3 chasers,” Hasselbrink said. “They switched to a 3-2 zone late in the first. They knew where he was and did a good job, but he passed up more 3s than I would have preferred. It just wasn’t his best night. They weren’t falling for him.

“Thirteen is not enough for this team, and he knows that. He’s the guy who will go back in the gym and work his butt off to make sure it doesn’t happen again though.”

Vansice chipped in seven points, three rebounds and two assists, Cainan Travis added six points and eight boards and Maddux Tuhn pulled down eight rebounds.

The Bolts shot 45.5 percent from the floor despite making 1-of-12 from 3. They were 10-of-15 from the foul line, won the rebounding battle 28-24 and turned the ball over 16 times.

“In big moments, other guys have to be confident to shoot wide open 3s,” Hasselbrink said. “We are doing our best to show we are confident in them in those moments. We’re bringing some young guys along and getting them comfortable. It will take some time.”

Earlham committed only seven turnovers and made nearly half of its shots from the floor. The Cardinals were 8-of-25 from 3 and 6-of-9 from the foul line.

Blake Reynolds and Hohertz combined for 40 of Earlham’s 51 points. Hohertz had 23 points and four rebounds, Reynolds totaled 17 points, five rebounds, five assists and four steals and Caleb Smith registered five points, five boards and five steals.

Baxter 74, BCLUW 40

BAXTER — The Bolts used a fast start, made nearly half of their shots from the floor and stayed unbeaten against BCLUW since it joined the Iowa Star Conference in 2022.

Baxter held the Comets to single digits in the first three frames and cruised to the 74-40 home win in conference action on Friday.

The Bolts led 18-9 after one and outscored the Comets 19-8 in the second and 24-14 in the fourth.

Dee put in 31 points, grabbed five boards and swiped three steals to lead Baxter, which is now 6-0 against BCLUW (2-12, 2-7 in the conference) since 2022.

Sulzle added 15 points, 17 rebounds and three steals, Tuhn collected a career-high 12 points and chipped in five boards and two steals and Travis totaled four points and five rebounds.

Tuhn, a freshman, made his seventh career start and is now averaging 5.2 points and four boards per contest.

“He’s getting a little more comfortable every day, which is exactly what you want a freshman to do,” Hasselbrink said. “He’s improved his defense, too, and is developing well.”

Vansice finished with three points and three steals, Parker scored five points and Colten Damman grabbed two rebounds.

Baxter (9-6, 7-2) shot 49 percent from the floor despite making 2-of-19 from 3. The Bolts were 8-of-10 from the foul line and turned the ball over 10 times.

North Tama 64, Baxter 55

TRAER — The Bolts controlled the glass and had a small lead at halftime, but North Tama rallied for a 64-55 home win during Iowa Star Conference South Division action on Tuesday.

The Redhawks outscored the Bolts 35-25 in the second half and Baxter was plagued by 1-of-13 shooting from 3.

“That was our worst effort given as a team in many years,” Hasselbrink said. “It was nothing close to what we need to see.

“We know we can be really good, but if we don’t bring effort and energy, we can be really bad, too.”

The Bolts led by one at halftime after winning the second 13-10. They out-rebounded the Redhawks and made 10-of-14 from the free-throw line but turned it over 13 times.

North Tama had a small advantage in field goal percentage (45-43) and made six more 3s in the victory. The Redhawks (7-6, 5-3) turned the ball over only seven times.

Sulzle led the Bolts with 23 points, nine rebounds and three steals and Dee added 15 points and nine boards.

Travis pitched in nine points, four rebounds and two blocks, Vansice collected six points, five boards and two steals and Tuhn grabbed six rebounds and swiped two steals.

Kayler Morris led North Tama with 19 points, five rebounds and seven assists and Josh Dostal tallied 17 points, five rebounds and four assists. Brayton Cibula posted a 10-point, 10-rebound double-double.

Baxter dropped to 13-4 against North Tama since 2017. The Redhawks’ win snapped the Bolts’ seven-game win streak in the series.