Audubon Basketball is rested and looking to stay tenacious

January 3rd, 2024 by Asa Lucas

The (4-6) Audubon Wheelers basketball team used the Christmas break wisely giving time off for their players to rest in preparation for the second half of the season. The Wheelers started the year off 1-4, with their only victory from a last place Missouri Valley team. Head Coach Darran Miller knew something had to change and decided to shift his team’s focus to defense and saw them gel better together. Audubon went on to win the next 3 out of 5 with strong wins against Riverside and Boyer Valley. Coach Miller credits the higher intensity on defense and rebounding for the Wheelers recent success.

A large part of the Wheelers dynamic has been the play of senior Edward Miller on both sides of the floor. Miller is averaging over 15 points and close to 9 boards per game. Coach Miller mentioned that Edward Miller does a nice job of deciding when to attack the basket or settling for an outside shot.

Miller is not the only high contributor for Audubon. Junior Aaron Olsen is the second highest scorer on the team with 10.9 points per game and has 24 steals. Now through 10 games into the year and Coach Miller notices that he has team who has no problem hustling for the ball. This year’s group does not get easily intimidated and will play as hard as they can through all four quarters.

Audubon resumes Western Iowa conference action this Friday on the road against a (3-6) IKM-Manning team who share a similar 3-2 record in their last 5 games. The Wolves are led by sophomore Ben Ramsey averaging over 16 points a game and a respectable 35% from behind the arc as a team. Coach Miller has his team looking to be a cohesive defensive unit to have 2024 start off with an Audubon win.