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Bultena’s bloody lip signifies Lynx slugfest win over Lions

Junior puts clamps on one of NCC’s top scorers; WCHS leads league?outright

CLEAR LAKE — Tyler Bultena is probably never going to score 20 points per game. That’s just not the lanky junior’s game.

And so he’s looked for other ways to be a contributor and, low and behold, he’s found it at the defensive end.

Sporting a bloody lip that gave off the impression that he’d been in a fight and a stat line that included only two points, Bultena was as responsible as anyone for Webster City’s 54-48 road victory over North Central Conference rival Clear Lake Friday night.

Bultena shackled Lions’ scoring machine Thomas Storbeck and limited him to just nine points, three of which came in the final minute. Storbeck stepped onto the floor averaging 21.4 per game.

“Tyler Bultena worked his tail off,” WCHS head coach Marty McKinney said after his club picked up its fourth consecutive win. “Storbeck is a great scorer and they set a lot of screens for him to get looks, but Tyler’s really proven that he’s one of the best defenders in the conference. He’s a great kid, a great team guy and he does everything you ask him.”

WCHS (6-2, 5-1 NCC) held Clear Lake (5-7, 3-3 NCC) to nearly 20 points fewer than its season average of 67.3. The Lions have popped off for 70 or more points seven times, but the Lynx put the brakes on the game and forced their tempo.

“Even if we score 70 points, we’re not going to win,” McKinney said. “If it’s in the 60’s, we’re probably still in trouble, if it’s in the 50’s we’re in business and we thought if we could hold them in the 40’s that we’d win the game.”

Trailing 31-30 after three quarters, WCHS came alive and put up 24 points over the final eight minutes. A spurt midway through the period gave the Lynx enough breathing room to stave off the Lions down the stretch.

“We just got a lot of good looks in the fourth quarter,” McKinney said. “I didn’t think we played great, but we made enough plays at the end of the game to win. Moving forward, we know we haven’t hit our potential yet, particularly at the offensive end. So when we start doing that, we’re going to be a lot better basketball team.”

Do-everything junior point guard Jordan Tanner poured in a game-high 20 points for the Lynx, who own the league lead outright heading into Tuesday’s game at Iowa Falls-Alden. Tanner also collected seven rebounds and two steals.

Connor Shannon, a senior forward, registered his third straight double-double and fifth in the last six outings with 12 points and 15 rebounds. Cameron Moen hit a pair of 3-pointers and notched nine points to go along with a pair of steals. Noah McKinney chipped in nine points and three assists.

Zach Lester paced Clear Lake with 17 points, but that too was below his average of 21.5. Drew Enke produced seven points.

WCHS wouldn’t have had to sweat down the stretch had it made its free throws. The Lynx finished just 9 of 19 (47 percent) at the charity stripe.

The Lynx also shot 47 percent from the field (20 of 43), while the Lions shot at a 35 percent clip (18 of 52).

Top-ranked W-SR denies Lynx boys fifth straight win

WAVERLY — Top-ranked (Class 3A) Waverly-Shell Rock outscored Webster City 21-8 in the second quarter to take command for good in a non-conference boys’ basketball game here Saturday evening.

Using their superior length, keyed by 6-foot-10 senior center and Northern Iowa recruit Austin Phyfe, and a hot night from behind the 3-point arc, the Go-Hawks rolled by the Lynx, 65-44.

“They hit more shots than they’ve hit all year and then they took us out of what we wanted to do offensively,” WCHS head coach Marty McKinney said after his club saw its four-game win streak snapped. “You’ve got to give Waverly credit because they get you out of your comfort zone.”

W-SR (12-0) hit seven 3-pointers, three each from John Stensland and Jack Seward and they scored 14 and 11 points, respectively. Phyfe led all scorers with 19 points.

Cameron Moen was the lone WCHS (6-3) player in double figures; he netted 10 points. Connor Shannon and Jordan Tanner both added nine, and Henry Hoversten came off the bench to score eight.

W-SR led 34-18 at halftime. WCHS closed to within 12 points, 43-31, after three quarters before the Go-Hawks put the game away with 20 fourth-quarter points.

Webster City 54, Clear Lake 48

Friday at Clear Lake

Webster City (6-2, 5-1 NCC) — Noah McKinney 3 1-2 9, James Van Diest 0 0-0 0, Jordan Tanner 7 5-8 20, Tyler Bultena 1 0-0 2, Cameron Moen 3 1-5 9, Connor Shannon 5 2-4 12, Henry Hoversten 1 0-0 2. Totals: 20 9-19 54.

Clear Lake (5-7, 3-3 NCC) — Nick Danielson 0 0-0 0, Thomas Storbeck 3 0-0 9, Zach Lester 7 2-4 17, Drew Enke 2 2-2 7, Ryan Atkinson 1 2-2 4, Cody Matz 1 0-0 2, Evan Krause 0 0-0 0, Jaylen DeVries 0 0-0 0, Sean Wendel 2 0-0 4, Jared Penning 2 1-1 5. Totals: 18 7-9 48.

Webster City 9 9 12 24 — 54

Clear Lake 8 9 14 17 — 48

3-point field goals — WC 4 (Moen 2, McKinney, Tanner); CL 5 (Storbeck 3, Lester, Enke). Rebounds — WC 31 (Shannon 15, Tanner 7). Steals — WC 5 (Moen 2, Tanner 2). Assists — WC 11 (McKinney 3). Team fouls — WC 8, CL 22. Fouled out — CL: Lester.

Waverly-SR 65, Webster City 44

Saturday at Waverly

Webster City (6-3) — Noah McKinney 1 0-0 3, James Van Diest 0 0-0 0, Nick Wallen 1 0-0 3, Jordan Tanner 2 4-6 9, Tyler Bultena 0 0-0 0, Cameron Moen 4 0-0 10, Connor Shannon 3 2-2 9, Henry Hoversten 4 0-0 8, Tyler Anderson 1 0-2 2, Ty Eklund 0 0-0 0, Devin Cornish 0 0-0 0. Totals: 16 6-12 44.

Waverly-Shell Rock (12-0) — John Stensland 4 3-3 14, Braden Holmquist 0 0-0 0, Jackson Little 0 0-0 0, Jack Seward 4 0-0 11, Jordan Gayer 1 0-0 3, Joey McNally 1 1-3 3, Brandon Hinders 0 0-0 0, Jordan Downing 0 0-0 0, Will Dix 0 0-0 0, Luke Velky 2 0-0 5, Mosai Newsom 3 2-2 8, Jacob Bahe 1 0-0 2, Austin Phyfe 7 4-5 19. Totals: 23 10-13 65.

Webster City 10 8 13 13 — 44

Waverly-SR 13 21 9 20 — 65

3-point field goals — WC 6 (Moen 2, McKinney, Wallen, Tanner, Shannon); W-SR 9 (Stensland 3, Seward 3, Gayer, Velky, Phyfe). Rebounds — WC 17 (Shannon 4). Steals — WC 3 (Bultena 2). Assists — WC 6 (McKinney 2, Tanner 2). Team fouls — WC 11, W-SR 14. Fouled out — Bahe.

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