Boys come close but don’t finish a win; girls score 1.5X their season average
The Ram boys, who have now lost nine of their last 10 games, seemed unable to keep themselves from losing when they hosted the Prairie City-Monroe Mustangs in the middle school gym Friday. The Rams were down by two points when the fourth quarter started, but after six minutes went by without any Ram points, a win was once again out of reach. The final score was 73-56.
The Rams were down by 10 points, 14-4, midway in the first quarter, but they were down by only one point, 19-18, at the end of the quarter. They played even-up ball all eight minutes of the second quarter and the Rams took a 33-32 lead into the locker room at the intermission.
Early in the third quarter with the Rams up 35-34, PCM’s Andrew Van Ryswyk put up one of his seven 3-point baskets to put his team ahead 37-35. The Rams never again had the lead, but they stayed close. The score was 49-47 at the end of the quarter.
Then came the fourth quarter, reminiscent of the game against South Hamilton just 24 hours earlier. The Mustangs scored 14 unanswered points and were ahead 63-47 before the Rams scored again. By then, only 2:17 remained in the game. In that last bit of the game the Rams scored seven points to the Mustangs’ 10, putting another mark in the loss column for the Rams.
The Ram defense did a good job of keeping the Mustangs out of the zone, but the Mustangs’ 3-point shooting was sharp. They made a total of 14 of the long buckets, with half of them belonging to Van Ryswyk. The Rams finished with eight 3-point baskets, with half of them claimed by Trey Hinote. Cael Fisher made two and Nick Breon and Carter Morton made one each.
The free throw line also made a difference. The Mustangs went to the line 16 times and picked up 13 points there. The Rams went to the line only five ties and made four points.
Hinote paced the Rams with 20 points, followed by Tyler Miller with 14 points. Morton had seven points, Fisher had six, Breon had five, and Xavier Hayes and John Rosado had two points each.
Although PCM won both match-ups against the Rams this season, the second game was much closer. Their first meeting in December was an 83-41 loss for the Rams.
The Rams are 5-12 on the season and 3-8 in the Heart of Iowa Activities Conference. The PCM Mustangs are 9-6 overall and 8-2 in the HOIAC.
The Ram girls lost their 16th game of the season, but they gave fans something to cheer about. Their season average is 22 points per game. They scored in double figures in the first quarter for the first time this season, and had 23 points at halftime.
At the end of the third quarter a win was still possible. The Rams trailed by eight points, 39-31. The Rams were able to muster just four points in the last quarter while the visitors put up 12. The final score was 51-35. The Rams exceeded their season average by more than half, and the lost was by less than half the season average point differential.
Lily Muir made two 3-point baskets and added three field goals for 12 points, a career high for her. Brianna Habben scored eight points. Izzy Bravard scored five points, including making three of three free throws. Sadie Wilson scored five points with a tres and a deuce. Brianna Osterson scored three points and Kassie Lamoureux added two.
The PCM girls are now 5-10 on the season and 3-5 in the conference.
The Rams go to Panora to play the Panorama Panthers Monday. They return to the Heart of Iowa Conference Tuesday for a road game in Story City against the Roland-Story Norsemen.
