The Ram boys couldn’t overcome Perry senior Rashon Ivory’s 42 points and his team’s 38 trips to the foul line when they hosted the non-conference Blue Jays Friday to end a four-game week and the 2017 portion of the season. Final score was 80-73 in favor of the Blue Jays.
The Rams led at the end of the first quarter 16-12. They played scrappy defense, stealing the ball and forcing a total of seven Blue Jay turnovers. While the Boone Toreadors had taken advantage of Ram turnovers the previous night, the Rams didn’t take full advantage Blue Jay turnovers. The Rams shot at only 33 percent in that quarter, missing several after the turnovers.
The Blue Jays claimed the lead with seven unanswered points late in the second quarter. The Rams had committed only four turnovers to the Blue Jays 11, but Ivory had already surpassed his 13-point game average by three points. The score at halftime was 31-30 in favor of the Blue Jays.
It was during the third quarter that the Rams’ foul woes started. The Blue Jays made seven of seven free throws in the first half, and seven of seven during the third quarter alone. Still, the Rams scored 21 points for the quarter and were down by only one, 52-51, when a Perry 3-point shot on the buzzer put the score at 54-51.
A 3-point shot by Joe Towers with 5:03 left in the game brought the Rams to within one point again, 57-56, but they were never able to take the lead.
Trey Hinote made a 3-pointer with more than 45 seconds left on the clock to make it a two-possession game, 72-67. While a five-point lead can evaporate in that much time, it didn’t happen for the Rams. Hinote and Wade Adcock both made two more buckets, but the Blue Jays kept making free throws. Their last 10 points, including five in the last 18 seconds, were all made from the free throw line.
Lance Hughes committed his fourth foul early in the third quarter and fouled out early in the fourth. Before the quarter was over, the Blue Jays had been to the free throw line 17 more times and Rams Ben Bravard, Jordan Patterson and Carter Morton had fouled out.
The Perry free throws were particularly problematic for the Rams because of the visitors’ accuracy. For the game the Blue Jays made 33 of 38 free throws, 87 percent. Their season average was 60 percent going into the game. The Rams shot respectably from the line at 72 percent, but they only got to the line 14 times.
Rashon Ivory made 42 points before he fouled out of the game. He made 16 of 17 free throws.
Hinote scored 22 points to lead the Rams. Adcock had 19 points, Towers had 16, Morton had five, Hughes and Ben Wilkins had four points each, and Ben Bravard had three.
The Rams’ two losses this week were to non-conference teams. They’re 6-3 overall but 6-1 in the Heart of Iowa Activities Conference. South Hamilton, the Rams’ first opponent after the Christmas break, is 6-0 in the conference. PCM is 5-1; the Rams’ one loss was to the Mustangs in Jefferson Dec 8.
The Blue Jays are 3-7 overall.
