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URBANDALE — What might have been.
Those four words can certainly define the past season for the Ottumwa High School boys basketball program. It may also come to define the program for the seasons that lie ahead as the Bulldogs will guided by a new head coach starting next season.
After 24 years spent coaching Ottumwa basketball at multiple levels, including the past six seasons as head boys varsity coach, Hartz will not be returning next season after a decision made by the school district. The Bulldogs will be looking to rebound under a new head coach from a 7-14 season that ended with 10 losses in the final 11 games culminating with a 74-38 loss at Urbandale in the Class 4A, Substate 2 quarterfinals.
"This is not where I planned on being right now," Hartz said after the game. "We were right where we wanted to be until we faced the issues that we had. We were 6-4 with a lot of games coming up that we could have won. We had a lot of things happen, some things you can't control, but I'm proud of the kids that played during that stretch.
"They all fought. They never gave up. We played hard and did the best they could. As a coach, that's all you could ask."
Ottumwa wasn't just 6-4 almost halfway through this past season, but had gotten to that point pulling out some incredibly dramatic wins. The Bulldogs had won all six games decided by 10 points or less midway through the season, including a last-minute 3-pointer that clinched a 50-49 comeback win over Des Moines Hoover and a 30-point effort that led Ottumwa to a 60-59 comeback win at Oskaloosa by leading senior scorer Trae Brown.
Just days after that victory at Oskaloosa, however, the trajectory of the season completely changed. Both Brown and Kase Hickman, who had a game-winning steal and lay-up in a 45-41 win over Mason City and hit a game-winning free throw in a 46-45 win over Des Moines Lincoln, were ruled to be academically ineligible for the next eight games.
"The biggest lesson I took away from all this is that you can't wait until the last minute," Brown said. "If you have a chance, take it. Don't sit around wait."
Suddenly, both Brown and Hickman were reduced to spectators for eight of Ottumwa's final 10 regular-season games. The Bulldogs not only lost all eight games, but lost senior Chase Thompson to a broken leg in just the third game without Brown and Hickman in a 56-54 home loss the Washington, one of three straight games decided by 10 points or less that all went against the short-handed Bulldogs.
"That was the worst feeling to watch the guys lose all those games in a row," Hickman said. "You go to practice and you're trying to help the guys get prepared for the next game. It's just a bad feeling knowing that I couldn't help them during those hard times."
Brown and Hickman's return helped Ottumwa pick up its final win of the season, a 58-42 victory over Mount Pleasant, before a 72-33 loss to state-bound Ames in the final game at Evans Middle School Gymnasium started a season-ending three-game losing streak. Fort Madison and Urbandale both pressed the Bulldogs into 40 combined turnovers in the final two games of the season as the depth of both the Southeast Conference champion Bloodhounds and the 11-win J-Hawks in the 4A substate opener proved to be too much for Ottumwa to overcome.
"It just became one of those stretches where you're trying to do everything you can. You've got kids in positions they don't normally play and kids trying to learn things on the fly," Hartz said. "It's tough. The seniors that are leaving, I've had them for a long time. I've been coaching them since they were in junior high football. I've been around them for a long time. I know they were disappointed with how the season finished off."
So what is in store for Ottumwa High School boys basketball, especially without the guidance of Hartz who led the program to three winning seasons in six years. The Bulldogs were able to get several players significant minutes with junior Nehemiah Wolfing perhaps benefiting the most, earning first-team all-conference honors from the Iowa Alliance after having to step up as the floor leader for the Bulldogs with starters Brown, Hickman and Thompson all out of the line-up averaging a career-best 10 points per game for the season.
Ottumwa's final game of the season also saw time on the floor for varsity newcomers Cedrick VanEnglenhoven and Gavin Monaghan, who combined to sink three of Ottumwa's seven 3-pointers made in the substate loss to Urbandale. With a group of eighth-grade players that recently completed an unbeaten run to the Southeast Conference title this past season, the future could yet be bright for the Bulldog boys heading into a 2025-26 season surrounded with uncertainty.
"Coach (Jeff) Smith said it to those kids in the locker room (at Urbandale) that are going to be back next year. If they didn't like that feeling, it all comes down to how much work those kids put in outside of the season," said Hartz who went 62-71 in his six seasons as Ottumwa's head boys basketball coach. "It's all a matter of how bad those kids want it. I think there are some guys coming up that play a lot of basketball. It's all about those guys getting into the gym to see what happens."
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Those four words can certainly define the past season for the Ottumwa High School boys basketball program. It may also come to define the program for the seasons that lie ahead as the Bulldogs will guided by a new head coach starting next season.
After 24 years spent coaching Ottumwa basketball at multiple levels, including the past six seasons as head boys varsity coach, Hartz will not be returning next season after a decision made by the school district. The Bulldogs will be looking to rebound under a new head coach from a 7-14 season that ended with 10 losses in the final 11 games culminating with a 74-38 loss at Urbandale in the Class 4A, Substate 2 quarterfinals.
"This is not where I planned on being right now," Hartz said after the game. "We were right where we wanted to be until we faced the issues that we had. We were 6-4 with a lot of games coming up that we could have won. We had a lot of things happen, some things you can't control, but I'm proud of the kids that played during that stretch.
"They all fought. They never gave up. We played hard and did the best they could. As a coach, that's all you could ask."
Ottumwa wasn't just 6-4 almost halfway through this past season, but had gotten to that point pulling out some incredibly dramatic wins. The Bulldogs had won all six games decided by 10 points or less midway through the season, including a last-minute 3-pointer that clinched a 50-49 comeback win over Des Moines Hoover and a 30-point effort that led Ottumwa to a 60-59 comeback win at Oskaloosa by leading senior scorer Trae Brown.
Just days after that victory at Oskaloosa, however, the trajectory of the season completely changed. Both Brown and Kase Hickman, who had a game-winning steal and lay-up in a 45-41 win over Mason City and hit a game-winning free throw in a 46-45 win over Des Moines Lincoln, were ruled to be academically ineligible for the next eight games.
"The biggest lesson I took away from all this is that you can't wait until the last minute," Brown said. "If you have a chance, take it. Don't sit around wait."
Suddenly, both Brown and Hickman were reduced to spectators for eight of Ottumwa's final 10 regular-season games. The Bulldogs not only lost all eight games, but lost senior Chase Thompson to a broken leg in just the third game without Brown and Hickman in a 56-54 home loss the Washington, one of three straight games decided by 10 points or less that all went against the short-handed Bulldogs.
"That was the worst feeling to watch the guys lose all those games in a row," Hickman said. "You go to practice and you're trying to help the guys get prepared for the next game. It's just a bad feeling knowing that I couldn't help them during those hard times."
Brown and Hickman's return helped Ottumwa pick up its final win of the season, a 58-42 victory over Mount Pleasant, before a 72-33 loss to state-bound Ames in the final game at Evans Middle School Gymnasium started a season-ending three-game losing streak. Fort Madison and Urbandale both pressed the Bulldogs into 40 combined turnovers in the final two games of the season as the depth of both the Southeast Conference champion Bloodhounds and the 11-win J-Hawks in the 4A substate opener proved to be too much for Ottumwa to overcome.
"It just became one of those stretches where you're trying to do everything you can. You've got kids in positions they don't normally play and kids trying to learn things on the fly," Hartz said. "It's tough. The seniors that are leaving, I've had them for a long time. I've been coaching them since they were in junior high football. I've been around them for a long time. I know they were disappointed with how the season finished off."
So what is in store for Ottumwa High School boys basketball, especially without the guidance of Hartz who led the program to three winning seasons in six years. The Bulldogs were able to get several players significant minutes with junior Nehemiah Wolfing perhaps benefiting the most, earning first-team all-conference honors from the Iowa Alliance after having to step up as the floor leader for the Bulldogs with starters Brown, Hickman and Thompson all out of the line-up averaging a career-best 10 points per game for the season.
Ottumwa's final game of the season also saw time on the floor for varsity newcomers Cedrick VanEnglenhoven and Gavin Monaghan, who combined to sink three of Ottumwa's seven 3-pointers made in the substate loss to Urbandale. With a group of eighth-grade players that recently completed an unbeaten run to the Southeast Conference title this past season, the future could yet be bright for the Bulldog boys heading into a 2025-26 season surrounded with uncertainty.
"Coach (Jeff) Smith said it to those kids in the locker room (at Urbandale) that are going to be back next year. If they didn't like that feeling, it all comes down to how much work those kids put in outside of the season," said Hartz who went 62-71 in his six seasons as Ottumwa's head boys basketball coach. "It's all a matter of how bad those kids want it. I think there are some guys coming up that play a lot of basketball. It's all about those guys getting into the gym to see what happens."
Continue reading...
