Osage posts big win over West Fork
By Kristi Nixon
OSAGE — Granted, West Fork and its tradition has a slight edge against Osage.
But on Tuesday, Dec. 22, Osage improved its boys basketball record against the Warhawks with a 72-67 victory, holding off first-year head coach Trent Trask’s squad that was down by 16 points at one juncture.
“It’s been one over the years, a big game,” Osage coach Mike Brahn said. “It’s always on the calendar, big one to close out the break here.”
Since 2009, West Fork is 11-5 against the Green Devils. However, since 2016-17 it has been fairly even with a 6-5 Warhawk advantage.
“They’ve probably got the better of us more often,” Brahn said, “but it’s even as far as the teams in the conference go, I think, we’re probably the ones that have given them the most problems over the recent history.
“Since we joined this conference (Top of Iowa) I think we’ve played them pretty tough.”
Sophomore Max Knudsen, who led all scorers with 24 points, knows that notching a victory over West Fork is a big deal.
“They’ve always been good, so it’s always a good time to beat them,” Knudsen said. “It’s a good win for us going into the break.”
Osage led 39-31 at halftime after taking an early commanding lead. The Warhawks rallied to tie the score at 50 going to the fourth quarter and had the lead temporarily in the fourth quarter before Osage took off.
The Green Devils improved to 6-2 overall, 5-1 in the Top of Iowa East. West Fork went to 3-3 overall, 3-2 TIC East.
“We knew we were going to get their best shot,” Brahn said. “They are just getting better as the year goes. They have figured some things out from early it looked like. They are a team that is going to keep getting better and better as the year goes.”
The full story and more photos are available in the Jan. 1 print edition of the Enterprise Journal
