RON MALY HAS BEEN WATCHING THE PARADE GO BY FOR A LONG TIME. THIS IS ONE OF HIS WEBSITES.
Friday, January 8, 2016
Valley Girls Were Caught In An Indianola Basketball Buzzsaw
By RON MALY
This is the swan song for Indianola High School in the Central Iowa Metro League, and there
are plenty of girls' basketball fans from Valley of West Des Moines who are likely saying, "Too bad it didn't happen a year sooner."
Third-ranked Indianola improved its record to 11-0 tonight by absolutely crushing No. 4 Valley, 72-52, at the Bill Coldiron Fieldhouse in West Des Moines.
Just three nights earlier in the same gym, Valley [7-3] had knocked off a Waukee team that then was No. 1 in the state's class 5-A rankings, 62-59.
But the Tigers were no match for Indianola, which rode a 30-point performance from 6-foot sophomore Grace Berg, 19 from 5-11 freshman Maggie McGraw and superb play at both ends of the court to what I regard as a stunning victory by the Indians and a shocking loss by Valley.
Late last season in Valley's gym, I watched Indianola steamroll Winterset in a game that sent the Indians to the class 4-A state tournament.
Now Indianola is a class 5-A school, but still is joining the Little Hawkeye Conference at the start of the 2016-2017 school year to be alongside such schools as Pella, Pella Christian, Norwalk, Dallas Center-Grimes and Grinnell after being a member of the CIML for a number of years.
The decision to move to the Little Hawkeye was made by Indianola officials a year ago.
Evidently, they felt the school couldn't consistently compete athletically [especially football] with CIML suburban Des Moines schools such as Valley, Waukee, Johnston, Urbandale, Ankeny and Ankeny Centennial.
Now, though, I'm wondering if there aren't some people in Indianola who might be wondering if moving out of the CIML is such a wise decision.
I mean, I'd stack the Indianola girls' team I saw tonight up against any 5-A team in the state right now.
It'll be interesting to see what happens Jan. 26 when Indianola plays at Johnston, which is now the No. 1-ranked class 5-A team.
Indianola was more athletic, shot better, defended better, did everything better than Valley tonight.
Whatever Valley tried, Indianola had an answer.
A solid answer.
Valley and Indianola aren't scheduled to play during the remainder of the regular season.
Unless they're matched against one another in the tournament, tonight's game could have been the last between the schools in the forseeable future.
It'll be interesting to see how the Indians fare during the rest of the 2015-2016 season--especially in that game at Johnston later this month.
I'll be watching.
By the way, Valley's No. 1-ranked boys walloped Indianola, 80-37, in tonight's second game.
Maybe that's part of the answer to why Indianola will be in the Little Hawkeye Conference, not the CIML, next season.