by Fred Solis
ANDALE—Three Indians scored in double figures to fuel Andale’s 55-40 win over Winfield in their home season-opener last Tuesday.
Senior Cade Fowler had a team-high 14 points—nine in the first half—to go along with 14 rebounds. Senior Hunter Grimes scored 11, with four boards and three assists, and senior Jack Horsch rounded out the trio with 10 points, six rebounds and four steals.
Winfield senior Evan Hutto scored game-high honors with 21 points, including five 3-pointers, four of them in the first half.
But it was Andale’s fast start of 18 first-quarter points that set the tone and pace of the night. Although the Vikings scored 10 in the first quarter, the Indians pretty much owned the paint, where they scored 36 points on the night to Winfield’s 18.
The victory showcased Andale’s raw talent, following a dearth of practices because of the long football season that culminated a couple weeks ago in the Indians’ sixth 3A state title in the last seven years.
“With the short amount of practices we’ve had, it was great for our guys to get out on the court,” coach Jeff Buchanan said. “I was super-proud of our focus and execution in that first quarter. That was phenomenal.
“That just makes you proud and excited, what these seniors are doing and how they’re approaching this and their focus and what they really are retaining because it all always shows really quickly in a game,” Buchanan continued.
“Some of the moves that Grimes got to the rim, where Caden Fowler was getting open and some of his were just tough points, just getting rebounds and getting position. But that’s something that he’s already recognizing, ‘This is where I’m going to be successful. This is where I’m open.’ And the guys are seeing him right when he’s open.”
The Indians also had the edge on points off turnovers with 15 on 17 Winfield miscues. On the Vikings’ side of the ledger, Winfield converted 12 Andale turnovers into six points.
A 15-11 second quarter put the Indians up 33-21 at the half, before the Vikings were able to close the deficit to nine points, 40-31, by outscoring the Indians 10-7 in the third quarter.
“In middle of the game, we were tired. We weren’t getting out; we weren’t contesting,” Buchanan said. “We tried to focus on rotating guys quite a bit, and we’ll continue to do that as we’re nursing some injuries and getting guys kind of in the swing of things. Overall, good leadership tonight with guys talking to each other, pumping each other up. They did a great job of coaching each other tonight.”
Andale regained the upper hand with a 15-9 fourth quarter, which saw them put together an 11-6 run in the final four minutes to put the Vikings away.
“Our execution and what we’re looking for, guys are seeing it, and we know our shooting is going to be better as we get going. We hit some tonight, but I think we’re going to keep improving there. Yeah, good win,” Buchanan said.