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St. Edmond 69,

Iowa Falls-Alden 57

St. Edmond - Connor Mulholland 3-6 2-4 10, Nick Clark 4-4 9-14 20, Luke Becker 8-12 6-8 22, Anthony Flattery 2-4 0-0 4. Neil Flattery 4-8 0-0 9, David Flattery 0-2 3-7 3, David Tann 0-1 1-2 1. Totals: 21-37 21-35 69

Iowa Falls-Alden - Spencer Nelson 2-4 2-2 6, Kade Olson 4-11 7-7 17, Nate Adams 2-4 1-2 5, Joshua Perkins 5-8 0-0 10, Aaron Nelson 1-2 0-0 2, Michael Krogh 2-4 0-0 4, Derek Bradley 1-2 1-2 3. Totals: 20-41 14-19 57.

Quarter scores: SE led 18-14, 38-31, 50-41. Three-point goals: St. Edmond 5-8 (Mulholland 2-5, Clark 2-2, Neil Flattery 1-1). Iowa Falls-Alden 2-9 (Olson 2-8, Walker 0-1). Rebounds: St. Edmond 28, Iowa Falls-Alden 20. Turnovers: St. Edmond 23, Iowa Falls-Alden 29. Total fouls: St. Edmond 17 (fouled out: Anthony Flattery), Iowa Falls-Alden 28; Fouled out: Perkins, Krogh, Adams.

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With five new starters for the St. Edmond boys basketball team, head coach Adolph Kochendorfer knows that experience will take time to mold.

Yet, St. Edmond has been able to keep their dominating ways alive behind a hard-fought mentality.

St. Edmond cruised to their fourth consecutive win this season - extending their North Central Conference win streak to 33 games - with a 69-57 victory over Iowa Falls-Alden inside St. Edmond gymnasium.

The Gaels (4-0 overall, 4-0 in the NCC) showed signs of their youth in a Helter-skelter game with the Cadets (3-3 overall, 0-3 in NCC) featuring a combined 52 turnovers and 45 fouls.

"We're a young team right now. They probably forced a lot of plays that they didn't need to, and that can happen with a younger squad," said Kochendorfer. "One thing is, though, they never quit playing hard. Their motors kept running, and at the end of the day, they did what it takes to win."

The tempo of the game was never quite set with many stoppages and turnarounds, but the Gaels pulled through down the stretch with a 57 percent shooting performance and a double-double with 22 points and 10 rebounds from senior forward Luke Becker.

"It was an alright performance, and a conference win is something we will always take," said Kochendorfer. "We made them work for it throughout the course of the game, and that was nice to see."

The Gaels jumped out to a 6-0 lead by forcing two turnovers within the first 90 seconds, but the Cadets settled in soon enough to fight back.

After a layup by senior guard Connor Mulholland with 20 seconds left, the Gaels finished the first quarter with an 18-14 edge.

St. Edmond, again, started the quarter on a 6-0 run. Mulholland and Nick Clark hit three-pointers on ensuing possessions to put St. Edmond up 30-18.

The Cadets also forced their fair share of turnovers - St. Edmond finished with 23 on the night - and was able to climb back in the game as a buzzer beater in the paint from 6-5 Joshua Perkins cut the Gael led to 38-31.

"The game had a lot of sloppy parts in the first half and they (Iowa Falls-Alden) fought pretty hard too," said Kochendorfer. "We went into the half with some things to correct, and cut down on the turnovers in the second half."

St. Edmond continued their ritual of starting the quarter hot by opening the third with seven unanswered points while forcing six Cadet turnovers in the first two minutes and 20 seconds. Iowa Falls-Alden's Kaden Cue hit a three-pointer and a jumper to narrow the margin to single digits at 50-41 to end the third.

The Gaels played their best quarter mistake-wise in the fourth with just four turnovers despite a periodic full-court press. The Cadets still managed to cut the lead to five points on separate occasions, but the Gaels fouled out two of the Cadet post players and put the game away at the free throw line.

Clark shot 14 free throws in the fourth quarter alone, as 14 of the Gaels 19 fourth-quarter points came from the charity stripe.

"We did a much better job rebounding and splitting the press in the fourth quarter, and getting to the free throw line that much has a big effect," said Kochendorfer. "Our composure was strong at the end."

While both teams had a rather large number of turnovers, the Gaels fueled 28 Cadet turnovers into 42 points whereas Iowa Falls-Alden scored only 22 points on 23 turnovers.

Becker propelled the Gaels to a 28-20 edge on the board with his 10 rebounds. Clark had 20 points to pace St. Edmond, as well as 10 steals and seven assists. Mulholland also reached double figures with 10 points.

"Luke did a great job on the boards and was very efficient when we could get the ball to him," said Kochendorfer. "Nick did a good job of penetrating and kicking the ball out and keeping our offense running."

St. Edmond will hit the court next against Clear Lake this Friday. The Gaels will travel to Clear Lake for that matchup.

Contact Brady Johnson at (515) 573-2141 or by e-mail at sports@messengernews.net