Roland-Story sports round-up: Norsemen off to 2-0 start in boys basketball

The Roland-Story boys basketball team is off to a 2-0 start as the Norsemen begin their quest for a third-straight Heart of Iowa Conference title and their second trip state in a row.

Roland-Story hammered Gilbert by 53-36 score Dec. 1 at Story City. The following night the Norsemen traveled to Greene County and won their HOIC opener in convincing fashion with a 68-37 win over the Rams.

The Roland-Story girls are off to a 2-1 start. The Norse girls won a 49-45 battle at Spirit Lake Nov. 19, fell at home to Class 4A No. 12 Gilbert, 51-33, Dec. 1 and took down Greene County in Jefferson Friday, 63-17.

The Roland-Story wrestling team placed 24th out of 31 teams at the Cliff Keen Invitational Saturday. The Norsemen scored 86 points to tie Cedar Rapids Xavier for 24th.

Osage easily won the Cliff Keen Invite team championship with 359.

The Norse wrestling team opened the season with a double-dual against Gilbert and Bondurant-Farrar Dec. 1 in Bondurant. Roland-Story suffered a 54-27 loss to Gilbert and a 69-9 setback against Bondurant-Farrar.

Here is what we learned from the opening week of winter sports competition.

Boys basketball team makes an early statement

The Roland-Story boys made short work of both Gilbert and Greene County.

In the victory over Gilbert the Norsemen held the Tigers to 34% shooting from the field and five attempts from the foul line. Roland-Story forced 20 turnovers and also held a 33-30 rebounding advantage.

Isaiah Naylor had 22 points and Luke Patton 13 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks for Roland-Story in the win. Ben Greenfield tacked on seven points and six rebounds, Boaz Clark five points and six steals, Dillon Lettow four points, five rebounds and four steals and Kale Lande two points and six boards.

Roland-Story shot 47% and made 10 3-pointers in its victory over Greene County. The Norsemen held the Rams to 30% shooting and had a huge 46-23 rebound advantage.

Naylor went off for 29 points against Greene County. Greenfield added 13 points and six boards, Patton five points, 14 rebounds and five assists and Clark eight points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals.

Roland-Story girls rebound from Gilbert loss

The Roland-Story girls came back from their loss to Gilbert with a dominating performance against Greene County.

Roland-Story had great balance in its victory over Greene County. Kamryn Lande had 11 points, Madi Bauer, Libbie Johnson, Claire Truesdell and Madelyn Roling eight apiece and Alyssa Jones seven.

Lande also had six rebounds and steals apiece, Bauer two assists, Johnson one steal, Truesdell three steals and two assists, Roling five rebounds and six rebounds, four steals and three assists. Elizabeth Ihle chipped in seven rebounds and five assists and Alynn Solberg and Kennedy Petersen four points apiece.

In the loss to Gilbert the Norse couldn't overcome a 34-25 rebounding deficit, 22 turnovers and poor 25.6% shooting night from the field.

Bauer had 10 points and two rebounds, Jones eight points and three assists, Johnson six points, Truesdell three points and four rebounds and Ihle six rebounds and two steals against the Tigers.

Roland-Story used good outside shooting and an edge at the foul line to get past Spirit Lake in its opener.

The Norse made eight 3-pointers to Spirit Lake's two and 9 of 15 free throws to the Indians' 5 of 8 showing. Roland-Story also held a 33-28 rebounding advantage.

Truesdell went for 17 points and seven rebounds and Ihle 12 points and two assists against Storm Lake. Lande added eight points and six rebounds, Kate Berggren five points and assists apiece, Roling five points and Ihle six rebounds and five assists.

Christian Eslick places third for Roland-Story at Cliff Keen Invitational

The Roland-Story wrestling team had three wrestlers place in the top eight at the Cliff Keen Invitational.

Christian Eslick took third at 160, Hesston Johnson eighth at 170 and Jaxson Kadolph eighth at 195.

Eslick went 6-1 during the tournament. He pinned Waterloo East's Donald Tyler, Cedar Rapids Prairie's Cade Stout, Osage's Heath Voight and Harrisburg's Logan O'Connor before dropping a 10-7 decision to Alburnett's Carson Klostermann in the semifinals.

Eslick bounced back from his loss to pin Osage's Max Gast in the consolation third round and pulled off a 4-2 decision over Crestwood's Cole Butikofer in the third-place match.

Johnson pinned South Tama County's Madden Martinez and Cedar Rapids Xaver's Jean Ngoma during the first two rounds then scored a 19-8 major decision over Waterloo East's Demaris Henderson before losing by fall to Osage's Nick Fox in the quarterfinals. In the consolation second round he was pinned by Clarion-Goldfield-Dows' Mack Seaba and in the seventh-place match Johnson suffered a loss by fall to Clarion-Goldfield-Dows' Nash Lienemann.

Kadolph received two byes then earned a 5-0 victory over Crestwood's Cody Kerian in the third round. He lost his next three matches to Osage's Cole Jefferies by fall, South Tama County's Marcus Bear by a 6-2 decision and Denver's Corbin Hill by fall.

During the double-dual meet in Bondurant the Norsemen scored three falls, one win by decision and a forfeit against Gilbert. Eslick pinned the Tigers' Noah Burger in 13 seconds, Johnson stuck Hank Johnson in 1:30, Aaron Peyton downed Jackson Stensland in 2:58 at 285 and Hayden Eslick earned a 9-2 victory over Gilbert's Dennis May at 106.

Kadolph picked up the forfeit win over the Tigers.

Roland-Story had one pin and one victory by decision versus Bondurant-Farrar. Christian Eslick pinned the Bluejays' Marcus Teed in 1:48 and Johnson earned a 16-10 victory over Aiden Carl.

This article originally appeared on Ames Tribune: Roland-Story boys cruise in first two games, girls off to 2-1 start