The Ram boys basketball team play 16 minutes of even-up ball with the Grand View Christian Thunder, Class 1A defending state champions and owners of a 44-game winning streak, in the middle school gym Tuesday.
The Rams scored first in the game but were behind 13-6 after five minutes of play. With three 3-point baskets by Trey Hinote and a deuce by Ben Wilkins in the last two minutes of the quarter the score was knotted at 19 at the end of the quarter.
The Thunder play a fast-paced, aggressive game and had a significant height advantage, but the Rams took the lead on Hinote’s fourth long basket early in the second quarter and held the lead until midway in the quarter. The score was again tied at 26 with 3:30 to play in the half, but the Thunder took a two-point advantage and held the lead the rest of the game.
Both teams were ahead of their average scoring pace at the intermission. The Rams had scored 35 points, more than half their 63-point scoring average, and the Thunder had scored 40 points, also ahead of their 77-point average. Even without Wade Adcock, the Rams’ leading rebounder, they held their own.
Hinote scored 19 points during the first half, but the Thunder shut him down, holding him to only two points in the third quarter. Wilkins, whose season average going into the game was 1.4 points, stepped up and scored six points to keep the Rams in the game. Lance Hughes did not play in the first half but put up a pair of 2-point baskets in the third quarter. Joe Towers added a basket, also, but the Rams’ 14 points weren’t enough as the Thunder put up 21 points.
The Thunder rolled in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Rams 25 to 8. The Rams lost 86-57, but the entertainment factor was there until the final buzzer. The Thunders’ athleticism is impressive, and the Rams played up to the challenge.
For the game, the Rams shot at 48 percent from the floor and made nine of 17 free throws for 53 percent. The Thunder shot at 66 percent and made 10 of 18 free throws for 56 percent. The Thunder out rebounded the Rams 34 to 24.
Hinote finished the game with 26 points. Wilkins, a senior who has seen limited playing time this season, scored 12 points and led the team in rebounds with six. Joe Towers scored 10 points, Lance Hughes scored five, and Carter Morton and Ben Bravard scored two each.
Thunder senior Grant DeMeulenaere led all scorers with 29 points.
The Rams have one more regular season game, a non-conference game against the Winterset Huskies that has been postponed three times due to weather. All three Ram boys teams will travel to Winterset Saturday, with the varsity game starting at 2 pm. The Rams are entering the game with an 11-9 record. The Huskies are 14-4; many of their season stats are similar to the Rams’.
The Ram girls again scored more than their season average but lost a hard-fought game 54-41.
The Rams took a 6-4 lead midway in the first quarter and were ahead 13-10 at the end of the quarter. They were ahead 25-1 with 26 seconds to play in the half, but the Thunder managed to put up three baskets to tie the score before the buzzer sounded.
Three minutes into the third quarter the Rams were up 37-30, but they didn’t score again for the next eight minutes of playing time. The were down 45-37 before Izzy Bravard ended the drought with a made free throw with 3:30 to play in the game. A win was still within reach, but in the last two minute, as the Rams fouled the Thunder trying to stop the clock and then reclaim possession, the visitors’ were hot at the charity line. Their last nine points of the game were made in 12 trips to the line.
Laurin Lyons and Onica Delp scored 10 points each, with Samantha Hardaway adding nine. Bravard and Ashley Millard scored six points each and Regan Lamoureux scored two.
It was the last regular season for the girls. They take a 5-14 record into 3A regional play against 9-11 East Sac County in Sac City Saturday.
It was the last home game for seniors Ben Bravard, Terence Bingley, Jordan Patterson, Logan Lawson, Austin Easterlie, Kyle Peters, Garret Swain, Wilkins and Towers. Wade Adcock was not eligible to play as he had been expelled from the game Monday against South Hamilton for what the referees called an intentional foul.
Seniors on the girls team are Samantha Hardaway, Caytlyn Adamson, Emily Bettey, Laurin Lyons, Regan Lamoureux, Onica Delp, Ashly Millard and Katlyn McColley.
