NORWALK — Dallas Center-Grimes boys basketball went into Tuesday’s game against Norwalk with one goal in mind.
“They beat us at our place,” DCG head coach Joel Rankin said postgame. “We wanted to get them at their place.”
A lot was on the line — in terms of conference standings — and the Mustangs stepped up to the challenge. Dallas Center-Grimes took led from the jump and never gave Norwalk a chance to get back in the game, beating the Warriors, 66-40.
“Redek Born is going to be great,” Rankin said of Norwalk’s star senior, who finished with 19 points on Tuesday. “But the other guys…I thought we did a really good job of containing. I thought we followed our defensive game plan better than last time.”
The beginning of the game started off with a steady back-and-forth, on both offense and defense. DCG scored, then Norwalk. The Mustangs made a stop on defense, then the Warriors did the same.
Dallas Center-Grimes scored early and often, and the Mustangs never let their foot off the gas pedal. All five starters — and two players off the bench — registered at least two points before the end of the first quarter, and five players scored five or more points before the conclusion of the first half.
With a 10-point lead after the first eight minutes, the Mustangs outscored Norwalk, 8-1, in the first four minutes of the second quarter.
Each time Norwalk managed to cut into DCG’s lead, the Mustangs pulled ahead again. Dallas Center-Grimes led by 13 points after the third quarter and finished with a 19-point advantage at the end of the game.
DCG took control on defense, but the Mustangs also stood out on offense.
Jackson Green scored 18 points for Dallas Center-Grimes, Calix Cahill added 16 and Jonathan Howard scored 13.
“All our guys can score,” Rankin said. “Tonight, we played team basketball, we trusted each other, and we got it to where we thought we would be effective. They really wanted this, and they played so hard. I’m really proud of them.”
Alyssa Hertel is the college sports recruiting reporter for the Des Moines Register. Contact Alyssa at [email protected] or on Twitter @AlyssaHertel.