Ventura continues to roll

Ventura 65, West Bend Mallard 29
The Ventura boys dominated West Bend Mallard in a 65-29 contest on Tuesday, Jan. 22, in West Bend.
The Vikes were able to hold the Wolverines to single digit scoring in all four quarters. Ventura jumped to an early 21-8 first quarter lead and stretched that to 35-13 by halftime. The third quarter was more of the same with the Vikings scoring 22 points to WB-M’s 8.
“Our offense was really working. We were patient and getting really good shots,” said Coach Nick Schauf.
Scoring leaders for the game were Cody Kadolph and Tyler Betz with 18 and 16 points respectively. Josh Henely chipped in eight, while Dalton Berhow-Goll picked up six.
Kadolph led the team under the boards with 10 rebounds. Other leaders included Betz and Henely with six apiece and Scott Watson with four.
Aaron Christians led the team in steals with three and Kadolph led the team in assists with five.

Ventura 62, Armstrong-Ringsted 33
It was more of the same on Friday, Jan. 25, when the Vikings traveled to Armstrong and defeated the Mustangs, 62-33, in a conference showdown.
“Even though this team has not won a game this year, they are still very athletic and we had to play well to beat them,” said Coach Nick Schauf.
The Vikings did play well, both offensively and defensively. The team held A-R to single digit scoring in three quarters. Ventura opened the game with an 11-6 first quarter and headed into halftime with a 30-13 lead. The Mustangs came back fired up in the third quarter and matched Ventura’s 16 points. The feisty Vikings wore them down in the fourth quarter and collected 16 points to A-R’s four for the final 62-33.
Friday night was the Tyler Betz show, as the junior collected 24 points, 11 rebounds, four steals and four assists to lead the team.
Other scoring leaders for the night included Cody Kadolph with 16 points, Tyler Peterson with nine and Josh Henely with seven points.
Kadolph also had a good night under the boards with 13 rebounds.
“The last games of the regular season will be tough and we have to show up to play every night because teams are going to be looking to knock us out of first place in the conference,” said Schauf.

Ventura 70, North Kossuth 54
The North Sentral Kossuth Eagles felt the pain when Ventura came to town on Thursday, Feb. 1, and romped them, 70-54, in Cornbelt Conference action.
The Vikings came out strong in the first quarter and jumped to a 27-16 lead. NSK picked up their game in the following three quarters, but was never able to close the deficit left by the first quarter.
Cody Kadolph had one of his best games of the season with 35 points, 12 of which came from the three-point arc. Tyler Betz added 21 points, while Josh Henely chipped in six and Jeremiah Hagen added two points. Tyler Peterson and Brian Mostrom each connected on a shot from the three-point line.
“Our scout team can be credited for getting us ready to play this game. We were able to handle what they brought at us because of them,” said Coach Nick Schauf.
Betz and Kadolph led the team under the boards with nine and six rebounds respectively. Mostrom contributed three steals, three rebounds and had three assists.

Ventura 37, Harris-Lake Park 26
It might have been a low scoring game, but a win’s a win and the Vikings aren’t complaining, especially since this win guaranteed them a share of the conference title. Ventura also accomplished another one of its goals by holding Harris-Lake Park to single digit scoring for each of the four quarters.
Ventura jumped to an early 15-8 lead and stretched that to 20-12 by halftime. The second half was closer, but the Wolves never got close enough to make the Vikings sweat in the 37-26 contest.
“We executed our offense well taking time off the clock and grinding things out,” said Coach Nick Schauf. “There will be games coming up when we will have to hold a lead.”
Tyler Peterson lit up the arc, connecting on four three-point shots on his way to 13 points. Cody Kadolph wasn’t far behind with 10 points and Josh Henely added nine points. Tyler Betz chipped in five points.
Along with two blocked shots apiece, Kadolph and Betz led the team in rebounds with 11 and nine respectively.
Friday night was Senior Night at the Ventura gym. “The other coaches and I are extremely proud of our seniors,” said Schauf. “They work very hard and each one has a specific role and value to the team that has helped us get at least a share of the conference title.”

Ventura 61, Central Spring 58
A fourth quarter rally brought the Ventura Vikings a 61-58 non-conference win over Central Springs on Saturday, Feb. 2.
The Panthers led the Vikings the entire game. Central Springs jumped to a 17-14 first quarter lead and by halftime were up, 29-22. At one point in the third quarter, the Panthers were up by 12 points, before the Vikings started to claw their way back. Ventura closed the gap to four points in the fourth quarter and went on to outscore Central Springs 23-12.
With :30 remaining, Tyler Peterson swung the ball to Betz who hit a big three pointer to go up by one. Then Betz tracked down a rebound and was fouled. He made the two free throws sealing the deal for the Vikings.
“It was good to know that we never quit and that we can grind out games that we don’t necessarily play real well,” said Coach Nick Schauf.
Betz led the team with 22 points. Cody Kadolph and Peterson added 15 and 11 points respectively. Josh Henely added nine points and Aaron Christians had four.
Betz also led the team under the boards with 11 rebounds. Henely also had a good night with eight rebounds, two steals and two assists. Kadolph led the team in steals with four and in assists with five.
The Vikings open District action on Thursday, Feb. 14, in their home gym against Corwith-Wesley-LuVerne.