Randolph boys earn win over Winside
RANDOLPH — It was a breakthrough the Randolph Cardinals basketball team desperately needed.
After a competitive loss to Winside earlier this season, the Cardinals pulled away for a 44-31 win over the same team last week and registered the team’s first win of the season to move to 1-13.
“Statistically we actually played a better game the first time we played them, when we lost,” Randolph head coach Jim Hixson said. “Our turnovers increased and we didn’t rebound as well. The difference was our shooting. We shot a season high 48 percent from the field and held Winside to 26 percent.”
Randolph also hit 13 of 18 from the charity stripe as Jacob Calder (16 points), Collyn Beal (12 points) and Tom Korth (eight points) led the Randolph attack.
“Our night started off on a bad note when our starting point guard informed me that he forgot his shoes back in Randolph,” Hixson said. “No one was asked to give up their own shoes however, one of our reserves – sophomores Justin Guenther - volunteered to give up his shoes for the betterment of the team.
“Unfortunately our point guard tore out the side of Justin’s shoe in the first half.”
A quick tape job later, the shoe held out.
“Without Justin having his ‘team before me’ attitude. our win would have been much more difficult,” Hixson said. “I very much appreciate his sacrifice for the team. He should be commended. We are overnighting Justin a new pair to wear on Friday.”
The Cardinals then lost a few days later to Stanton 67-40.
“Turnovers again were a problem,” Hixson said of Randolph’s 19 miscues.
Korth had a highlight performance with 12 points and Calder added 13 points.
Cardinal Brayden Shearer said the win was a breakthrough that was much needed especially after losing to Winside earlier when the Randolph guys expected to win.
“It was nice to finally get one,” Shearer said. “The team was really happy and there was a lot of emotion going through there. It was nice to look at the scoreboard at the end of the game and see that we were on top.
“It was nice to get one and it didn’t matter who it was against. We should have beat them the first time, though.”
Shearer said the Cardinals knows the taste of winning and will hopefully use some of that momentum to move forward.
“We want to beat Plainview on Thursday,” he said. “We still have a lot more to do. There are better teams out there than Winside, so now we need to get some bigger wins.
“We need to keep limiting turnovers, win the rebound battle and we have to shoot better – we have to keep working on all those in practice. We kept this all in perspective. The win felt good, but we weren’t overly thrilled. If we get a win in the next few games, I think that would be a lot better.”
Randolph plays Plainview Thursday, and it will be the last game before they hope up the conference tournament in two weeks.
“Plainview has a better record that we do, however with our improvement that we have shown recently I hope to be competitive,” Hixson said. “Having struggled this year, our goals are simply this: Improve as much as we can and win more games.”
Randolph 9 12 13 10 — 44
Winside 11 9 8 3 — 31
SCORING Randolph – Jacob Calder, 16; Collyn Beal, 12; Tom Korth, 8; Jake Harder, 3; Isaiah Salmon, 2; Brayden Shearer, 2; Shaw Backer, 1.
REBOUNDS Randolph – Collyn Beal, 8; Jacob Calder, 5; Brayden Shearer, 4; Tom Korth, 2; Isaiah Salmon, 2; Shaw Backer, 1; Jake Harder, 1.
ASSISTS Randolph – Isaiah Salmon, 1.
STEALS Randolph – Jacob Calder, 6; Collyn Beal, 4; Isaiah Salmon, 1.
BLOCKS Randolph – Tom Korth, 1.
Stanton 16 21 30 0 — 67
Randolph 9 11 20 0 — 40
SCORING Stanton – Owen Vogel, 18; Parker Krusemark, 11; Ben Butterfield, 10; Abe Larson, 10; Adam Arens, 6; Kamden Dusatko, 3; Cole Rutten, 3; Jordan Claussen, 2; Mitchell Hupp, 2; Barrett Wilke, 2. Randolph – Jacob Calder, 13; Tom Korth, 12; Collyn Beal, 6; Brayden Shearer, 6; Jake Harder, 2; Isaiah Salmon, 1.
REBOUNDS Stanton – Adam Arens, 6; Ben Butterfield, 6; Owen Vogel, 4; Parker Krusemark, 4; Jordan Claussen, 2; Kamden Dusatko, 2; Mitchell Hupp, 2; Barrett Wilke, 2. Randolph – Collyn Beal, 8; Brayden Shearer, 6; Tom Korth, 5; Isaiah Salmon, 2; Jacob Calder, 1; Justin Guenther, 1; Jake Harder, 1.
ASSISTS Stanton – Parker Krusemark, 4; Adam Arens, 2; Ben Butterfield, 2; Owen Vogel, 2; Mitchell Hupp, 1; Abe Larson, 1; Barrett Wilke, 1. Randolph – Shaw Backer, 1; Jake Harder, 1.
STEALS Stanton – Abe Larson, 8; Owen Vogel, 2; Adam Arens, 1; Ben Butterfield, 1; Parker Krusemark, 1; Cole Rutten, 1; Barrett Wilke, 1. Randolph – Collyn Beal, 2; Jacob Calder, 1; Shaw Backer, 1; Brayden Shearer, 1; Dayton Winkelbauer, 1.
BLOCKS Randolph – Jacob Calder, 1; Tom Korth, 1.
