Cedar Falls girls basketball, Ames boys basketball split doubleheader

AMES — A basketball doubleheader between Ames and Cedars Falls featured a battle of the bigs on the boys side and Grace Knutson against everyone in the girls game.

The Tigers (12-4) girls basketball team walked away with an easy 71-31 win over Ames. The Little Cyclones boys basketball team prevented a home sweep, beating No. 8 Cedar Falls, 56-46.

Cedar Falls scored just seven seconds into the girls matchup and never wavered as the No. 9 Tigers continued to pile on the points. The Little Cyclones scored 25 points (to the Tigers’ 46) in the first half but managed just 6 points in the second.

Four players scored in the double digits as the Tigers picked up their ninth-straight win.

The boys game featured a more back-and-forth battle than the girls game. Cedar Falls (10-4) scored first but it wasn’t long before Ames took the lead. The leading team on the scoreboard flip-flopped, with the Tigers leading 16-14 after one quarter and Ames up 24-22 at halftime.

Cedar Falls sophomore Anthony Galvin put in his best effort with 12 points for the Tigers, but it wasn’t enough to overcome double-digit performances from three Ames (11-4) starters.

Little Cyclone girls struggle with sloppy play against Cedar Falls

Neither program played a perfect game.

There were errant passes, turnovers and avoidable penalties (like traveling) from both teams. But there were two things that set Cedar Falls apart from Ames (5-10).

For one, the Tigers capitalized on the Little Cyclones’ mistakes. Cedar Falls took advantage of every opportunity and they didn’t hesitate to turn those mistakes into points.

Cedar Falls also tightened up its own play in the second half. The Tigers' game still wasn’t perfect, but it takes a strong defensive showing to hold an opponent to just six total points in a half.

“I thought we did much better in the second half defensively,” said Tigers coach Gregg Groen. “We did a much better job of locking down.”

Grace Knutson knows how to make an impact

The 5-foot-10, junior guard was all over the court. She even went end-to-end to score her first points of the night, and there was no slowing her down after that.

Knutson finished with 17 points and distributed the ball well to her teammates.

Cedar Falls’ star brings a speed to the game that Ames seemed unprepared for. Knutson never let up either, despite playing through the first three-and-a-half quarters without a breather.

She’s a menace in the paint – even grabbing her own rebound for some second-chance points – and cut through the Cyclones’ defense with ease.

“She has this calmness about her, this confidence about her, that when she’s on the court, everybody else feels pretty confident too,” Groen said. “It’s that ability of her to get everybody involved and her ability to calm things when they need to be calmed or take over when she needs to take over.”

Who won the battle of the bigs between Ames and Cedar Falls boys?

Ames’ Lucas Lueth was the player of the game against Cedar Falls. He finished with 17 points and led the Little Cyclones' defensive charge and did a solid job of containing one of the more dangerous players on Cedar Falls’ roster.

“(Dallas) Bear, that was my guy,” Lueth said postgame. “I just had to stay with him, I couldn’t help off much. He just came off a 38-point game, so I took notice of that.”

Frank Keller also matched up well against Cade Courbat, limiting his production. Keller’s ability to crash the paint set him apart, his second-chance scores put Ames on top when they needed it most.

This was not the night for Dallas Bear. The 6-foot-8 forward averaged 20.2 points per game ahead of Friday’s matchup, but his shots just didn’t fall. It didn’t matter if it was a layup or an attempt from behind the arc, it wasn't working for Bear and that wasn’t all because of Ames’ defense.

Bear finished with 9 points.

Even when 6-8 forward Courbat blocked a Jamison Poe shot, it bounced off Bear and out of bounds, giving possession back to Ames.

Courbat struggled too. He was limited by fouls and scored 2 points in the first half and finished with 9 points.

Shout out to the (relatively) little guys

At 6-1, Jack Wynter is far from little, but compared to Bear, Courbat, Keller and Lueth he seems like he is.

Still, the Little Cyclones' junior guard recorded a team-high 20 points and was impressive shooting from all over. But his biggest contribution came from the foul line. Wynter went 7-for-8 on free throws and made six straight in the final 20 seconds to help Ames to its ninth straight win.

“I knew I had to come up for my team at the end of the game,” Wynter said. “When it got down to the wire, we needed free throws. I wanted to step up.”

Alyssa Hertel is the college sports recruiting reporter for the Des Moines Register. Contact Alyssa at ahertel@dmreg.com or on Twitter @AlyssaHertel.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Lucas Lueth leads Ames basketball past Cedar Falls, Grace Knutson impresses