John Joachim decided to play the role of the "glass-is-half-full" guy Friday night after his New Hampton boys basketball game kept its hold on second place in the Northeast Iowa Conference.

The Chickasaws had survived an inconsistent night on the offensive end of the court to pull out a 44-32 victory over Oelwein.

And New Hampton's fourth-year coach knew why.

"It starts with defense and it ends with defense," he said after the Chickasaws improved to 10-5 overall and 4-1 in NEIC play. "For the most part, I loved our intensity on that end of the floor."

And to be honest, Joachim wasn't all that disappointed with his team's effort on the offensive end.
"For the most part, I thought we worked the ball really well," he said, "but we missed a lot of wide-open shots. It's something we have to find, that offensive consistency. ... With all the days we've missed [because of the weather], it's hurt us there."

New Hampton found just enough offense to beat a scrappy Oelwein team that has just one NEIC win.

The Chickasaws used a 6-1 run at the end of the first quarter to take a 13-12 lead before struggling mightily in the second quarter and the beginning of the third frame. In an 11-minute span, New Hampton scored just five points.

"It tells you how good our defense was that you can go that long and score that few of points and still be in the game," Joachim said.

Midway through the third quarter, though, New Hampton's offense returned to life. The Chickasaws went on a 10-2 run to close the quarter and build a 28-22 lead.

Nathan Nicolaisen scored off of two drives and hit Judd Landers for two assists to pace the run. While Landers led the Chickasaws with 16 points, Nicolaisen had 15 points and three assists.

"I liked the way Nathan created there," Joachim said, "and I think that's what we expect from our leaders. He's pretty quick off the dribble, but what I really liked was the decisions he made."

Another key for New Hampton was its dominance on the boards as it outrebounded the Huskies 37-26. Brandon Lenehan led the way with 10 while Landers and Kelly Larkin added eight and six, respectively.

"Rebounding a lot of times is about effort, and boy, I thought we got some great effort tonight."
Joachim said the same kind of effort will be needed tonight (Tuesday) when the Chickasaws travel to Waverly-Shell Rock. New Hampton will be looking for its first season sweep of the Go-Hawks this century.

"It's a huge game for us," Joachim said, "but we know it's not going to be easy. It never is in Waverly. We'll enjoy this tonight, but we know there's a lot of basketball season left."

NEW HAMPTON 44, OELWEIN 32
Oelwein    12    4    6    10    -    32
New Hampton    13    4    11    16    -    44
TEAM STATISTICS
    O    NH
Rebounds    26    37
Turnovers    19    16
Steals    6    10
Blocked shots    2    3
Assists    7    10
NEW HAMPTON STATISTICS
Scoring - Nathan Nicolaisen 15, Garrett Hogeland 2, Kyle Hackman 2, Mitchell Sinnwell 2, Judd Landers 16, Kelly Larkin 4, Brandon Lenehan 3. Totals 18-46 7-15 44.
3-point field goals (1-10) - Nicolaisen 1.
Rebounds - Nicolaisen 3, Hogeland 5, Hackman 4, Sinnwell 1, Landers 8, Larkin 6, Lenehan 10, Chris Thies 1.
Blocks - Larkin 2, Lenehan 1.
Steals - Nicolaisen 2, Hogeland 1, Hackman 2, Sinnwell 1, Landers 3, Lenehan 1.
Assists - Nicolaisen 3, Hogeland 4, Sinnwell 3.