What do you do when you start your final home game of the regular season down? When your go-to players struggle early, how do you bounce back? This is the environment where young stars shine. Through solid role performances and a breakout game for the junior Simon Einwalter, Solon was able to flip the game around and dominate the second half.
Solon was met with a swift deficit behind West Branch, who opened the game on an 11 to 0 run. The Spartans’ first step to getting back into the game was a 3-point bucket from their top scorer, Junior Tate McCollum.
The Spartans would continue to whittle down West Branch’s lead with free throws. Both teams saw early foul trouble, and Solon was able to go 8 for 9 on free points during this stretch.
Solon was able to stay in the game, keeping the game 26-28 at the halfway mark. Coach Galpin reflected on the start.
“It’s just not the team I know, and I’ve seen play,” Galpin said. “We just weren’t aggressive.”
Galpin also noted that a few players were not 100% coming into the game.
“I’m not going to make excuses for him, but you know, we’ve had sick, Grant’s been sick this week… just got sick bodies, and so that changes what we do in practice, and that kind of changes the flow a little bit,” Galpin said.
The Spartans key to victory in the second half was a team effort. Spreading the ball and playing with stronger defensive fundamentals, Like Maddox Kelly’s 7 steals, and Grant Gordon’s 9 rebounds
The real eye catcher of the night was the performance from junior, Simon Einwalter, who has started 12 of 21 games this season. Going into tonight, he had averaged 6.2 points per game on the season and had set a high tonight of 20 as Solon’s leading scorer in the game.
Einwalter went on a massive run, putting up 12 points in the fourth quarter alone, along with 2 offensive rebounds that turned into strong post points. The Spartans’ lead was solidified with a corner 3 from Einwalter, to boost Solon up 57-42. Einwalter finished with 20 pts, 5 rebounds, and 2 assists.
Other good team performances came from Maddox Kelly, who had 14pts, 4 assists, and 7 steals, as well as Grant Gordon’s 13pts, 9 rebounds, and 3 steals.
“This was a career night for Simon… this is kind of what I expected coming into the season from Simon, it just took a while to get there,” Galpin said, “You know, he’s a junior still learning how to play, got a little bit of experience last year, but he has that offensive game in him.”
The game came to a close as Coach Galpin subbed in seniors Tyler Greazel (2), Camden Lyons (15), Nick Gerdin (22), Nicholas Stahle (23), and Ryan Lock (30) to wind out the clock, and end the home regular season.
Solon 61 Vinton-Shellsburg 53
The Spartans held off a challenge from the Vikings Tuesday, Feb. 10 at home after winning the first period 13-12 and building a 30-21 halftime lead. The Vikings turned the tables on Solon in the third quarter outscoring the Spartans 15-7 before a 24-point effort put the game away for Solon in the final eight minutes.
Maddox Kelley led Solon with 22 points followed by Tate McCollum with 18, six apiece from Ethan Ulch and Simon Einwalter, four points produced by Kaden Hoeper, three from Luke Merrick, and two by Owen Bock. Hoeper led on the boards with five rebounds, Kelley and Hoeper made three assists each.
IHSAA rankings
The Spartans remained in the No. 8 spot for the Iowa High School Athletic Association’s power rankings as of Feb. 9th. Ballard (Huxley) now holds the No. 1 spot at 17-1.