Ram girls lose to #10 rated Panthers
The Greene County boys basketball team got a welcome win in Panora Monday, topping the non-conference Panorama Panthers 83-69 to break a six-game losing streak. The Rams hadn’t won since playing Saydel on Jan. 4.
Strong shooting by both the Rams’ leading scorers – senior Trey Hinote and junior Carter Morton – was a big factor in the win. Hinote scored a career-high 35 points and Morton scored 26 points, close to his career high.
The Rams committed more fouls than in any other game this season with 28. Junior Tyler Miller fouled out halfway through the third quarter. He was called for a charge for his fourth foul, and he was tagged with a technical foul after that call to foul out of the game with nine points. (Panorama was also called for a T later in the game.) Nick Breon, Cael Fisher, Eddie Goff and Xavier Hayes finished the game with four fouls each.
The officials watched the Panthers closely, too, whistling them for 19 fouls.
The victory could have been either team’s in the first half of play. Hinote put the first points on the board very soon after the tip-off to put the Rams up 3-0. The Panthers answered with a field goal and Hinote put up another tres to give his team a 5-2 lead. Before he made his third 3-pointer the home team was ahead 10-5; the tres put the score at 10-8. The Rams weren’t able to make up the difference and remained behind the rest of the quarter. The score was 21-17 in favor of the Panthers after eight minutes of play.
The Rams came back on the court strong for the second quarter and tied the game in the first minute 21-21 with field goals by Miller and John Rosado. The fell behind again, tied the score at 27, and took the lead at 30-28 with another Hinote long bucket. That was midway through the second quarter and the Panthers trailed the rest of the game. The score at halftime was 42-37, with 23 of those points belonging to Hinote. He made five 3-point baskets in the half.
The third quarter featured a lot of action and many shots, with the Rams more successful than the Panthers. By the end of the quarter the Rams had stretched their lead to 13 points, up 63-50.
The Rams were able to keep the energy going through all four quarters, something that has been a challenge this season. Panorama matched them nearly point for point, putting up 19 points as the Rams scored 20. That included Rosado’s first 3-point basket of the season.
The Panthers didn’t give Hinote easy looks at the basket from outside the key and the long shots he did take didn’t fall in the second half. His 12 second-half points came from two field goals and eight of 11 free throws. He was 10 of 13 from the line for the game.
Hinote’s point total included five 3-point baskets and five 2-point baskets along with the free throws. Morton scored his 26 points via four 3-point baskets, three 2-point baskets, and eight of nine free throws.
Miller added four field goals and one of one from the line, Rosado scored five with a field goal and a tres, and Breon, Fisher, Goff and Hayes added two points each. Hayes’ points were from the line.
Breon, Morton and Hayes each had five rebounds. Fisher and Miller had four each, Goff and three, and Hinote and Rosado had one each. Hinote led in assists with four and in steals with three.
The Ram boys are now 6-12 overall while the Panthers are 8-9.
The No. 10 rated Panthers won the girls game easily, 58-14. The Rams started well, scoring four points in the first two minutes of play to lead the game 4-3. They didn’t score for the next 12 minutes of play as Panorama put up 2t unanswered points. The Rams were down 40-5 at intermission. That set the clock running continuously for the entire second half.
Sadie Wilson scored five points, all in the fourth quarter, to lead the Rams in scoring. The five points included a 3-pointer and a field goal. Brianna Habben scored three points. She was the only Ram to get to the free throw line, making one of two shots there. Bailey Cunningham, Brianna Osterson and Izzy Bravard scored two points each.
The Ram girls are 0-17 on the season. The Panther girls are 16-1.
The Rams were scheduled for a Mega Night against the Roland-Story Norse Tuesday, but the games were postponed to Feb. 4 due to hazardous weather. They host Saydel this Friday, the finish the season on the road vs Carroll High on Saturday, the rescheduled games in Story City Monday, and a Mega Night in Alleman vs North Polk on Tuesday.
