~by Taylor Teays for The Scranton Journal
The Greene County boys basketball team finished their season in the opening round of Class 2A tournament action last Feb. 14 against Southeast Valley.
The Rams traveled to Kuemper High School in Carroll to face the Jaguars. The teams had faced each other a week earlier, resulting in a win for SEW. The rematch last week was much closer, but not close enough for the Rams to advance.
The Jaguars were in the lead throughout the game, leading 19-9 in the first quarter when the Rams struggled to put the ball through the hoop. At the break, the Jags held a 31-21 advantage. In the second half of the game, the Rams pulled within eight points of the Jaguars, but were unable to close the gap and get ahead. Southeast Valley took the win 65-57.
Junior Richard Daugherty led the team in their final game of the season with 21 points and five rebounds. Senior Bryce Stalder played his last game with 12 points, and senior Jackson Morton had three rebounds. Junior Jesse Miller scored 12 points with seven rebounds.
Leading the Jaguars was Aaron Graves, a University of Iowa football recruit. He scored 30 points and hauled down 11 rebounds. He also placed fourth at the Class 2A State wrestling tournament this weekend in the 285 pound division.
The Rams will lose seniors Max Riley, Caden Telleen, Blake Hamann, Bryce Stalder and Morton. Greene County ended their season 9-13.
“I am really proud of our guys tonight. We may not have come out on top (65-57) but the effort our guys gave was tremendous,” said coach Chris Nelson. “We could have easily packed it in after losing to SEV by 30 the first time but as I have said all season, we have tough guys and they showed it.
“We were right there just unfortunately couldn’t get a few good looking shots to fall and a few loose balls didn’t go our way which is part of the game. However, our will to battle and compete to push the game to the very end was just flat out fun to watch,” added Nelson. “This a good momentum builder and learning game to take to the off-season.
“Thanks to all our fans and the support this year. We definitely appreciated it,” concluded Nelson.
The team was 9-13 for the season.
