The Rams lost a pair of Heart of Iowa hoops games on the road against the Nevada Cubs Tuesday, Jan. 27. The girls faced a continuous clock for the first time this season in a 48-13 loss, while the boys game was much closer at 56-51.
The Nevada girls showed why they’re ranked fourth in 3A, with good outside shooting and a defense that held Kayla Mobley, the Rams’ leading scorer, to only four points, all of them as free throws. The Cub defense unsettled the Rams to where they had 24 turnovers for the game. Nevada was up 15-0 before the Rams scored.
The score was 19-2 after one quarter, 30-6 at halftime, and 42-10 after three quarters.
Hannah Onken scored six points for the Rams and Kenna Marquardt scored three. The Rams’ shooting percentage was 16, while the Cubs shot at 45 percent.
“Nevada is a very strong team with lots of weapons. They shot very well from the 3-point line in the first half,” coach Chad Morton said. “I was happy with our press and I thought we played better in the second half.”
The loss puts the Rams at 7-6 in the HOIAC and 7-8 overall.
The boys game was not a bucket-fest as many of their games have been, with the Rams scoring 17 points below their season average of 68 and also allowing their opponents to score 14 points fewer than their season average of 70.
The Rams were up 10-4 after one quarter, with sophomore Trey Tucker scoring seven of those points as two 3-pointers and a free throw. The Cubs used a run of 10 unanswered points in the second quarter to take a 21-17 lead into the locker room at halftime.
The teams battled in the third quarter, with the Cubs building an eight point lead at 29-21 and the Rams trimming it to a three point lead, 35-32, at the end of the quarter. The battle continued, with the Rams knotting the score 42-42 with 3:50 left to play and 46-46 with 2:14 to play, and taking a 48-47 lead with 1:59 to play. The Cubs scored the next five points with a field goal and then three free throws. Tucker made a 3-pointer to bring the Rams back to within two, 53-51, but the Cubs scored the last three points, all of them as free throws.
Tucker entered the game leading class 3A in scoring with an average 25 points per game. He scored 30 against the Cubs. Senior Landon Braun, who averages 10 points a game, was held scoreless until he put up a 3-pointer and got a field goal in the fourth quarter.
Sophomore Reid Lamoureux averages eight points a game. He did not see as much playing time as in recent games and did not score. Senior Riah Nelsen scored six points, junior Tyler Beger scored five, and juniors Anthony Cunningham and Mitchell Gorsuch scored three and two points respectively.
The Rams are now 6-6 in the Heart of Iowa Activities Conference and 6-8 overall, while the Nevada Cubs are 9-4 in the conference and 9-6 overall.
The Rams lost all four games against the Cubs this season.
