Mount Ayr Community came up a little short of making a trip to the state tournament as they lost to Ankeny Christian Academy 62-53 in the Valley of West Des Moines gymnasium on Saturday, Feb. 27.
This was the first appearance by a Raider basketball team in a sub-state game since Coaches Brad Rumple and Delwyn Showalter guided the 1986 squad to appearance against state-qualifier Woodward-Granger.
“We defended them as well as we could, said coach Bret Ruggles. “We just needed to shoot the ball better, but we gave another great effort.”
“It was good to see Malcom Mercer end his Raider career on such positive note,” stated coach Ruggles. “We will definitely miss him, but we have a lot of young men who got some valuable experience this season.”
The Raiders finished the season with a 16-8 overall mark, but were 13-4 in their final 17 games of their season.
Malcom Mercer scored first to give the Raiders an early 2-0 lead, but it did not last long as Jason Cameron hit a long “three” and 6’ 5” Jay Snyder scored inside to put the Eagles ahead 5-2. Malcom Mercer hit a “three” of his own and Tim Olejniczak hit from beyond the arc and Snyder scored again in close to keep the Raiders at bay. Braydee Poore and Jake Glendenning scored “two’s” and Matt Sobotka nailed a long ball and the Raiders were within two, 15-13 at the end of one quarter.
Jason Cameron really made things difficult for the Raiders as they tried to help out inside on the big Snyder, the big forward hit two 23-footers to put the home team up eight. Matt Sobotka was able to score five points, including another “three,” but Isaac Lopez scored along the baseline and Cameron and Olejniczak helped the Eagles go into the half-time break leading 31-25.
The Raiders did a great job limiting the Eagle field goal production in the second half, they just could not generate enough scoring by their own offense to overtake the bigger Ankeny team.
Malcom Mercer added another “three” and Jake Glendenning scored twice in the third period. Mercer’s bomb had pulled the Raiders to within three at 31-28, but Andy Harmsen joined the Eagle scorers and the pesky Olejniczak found the bottom of the net from long range putting the Eagles back up 41-33 heading into the last eight minutes of the game.
Tim Olejniczak did most of the ball handling for the Eagles and drew several fouls in the final quarter. Ankeny Christian Academy would score 21 points in the final quarter with most of those coming at the free throw line. Tim Olejniczak and Jay Snyder were nearly automatic in the closing minutes, dowsing any hopes the Raiders had of a miracle finish.
The Raiders had a productive quarter themselves as Braydee Poore scored six points and Malcom Mercer five before they both went to the bench with five fouls. David Showalter’s three-pointer cut the lead to 58-53 with 43 seconds left, but that would end the Raider scoring and Olejniczak and Snyder would make free throws to seal the Eagles’ state tournament berth.
Malcolm Mercer led the Raider scoring with 16 points and Braydee Poore and Matt Sobotka both added 10 against Ankeny Christian Academy.
The Raiders shot 46 percent from the floor and made four of seven free throws. The Eagles shot 48 percent from the field and made 69 percent of their 32 free throws. Ankeny Christian was successful on 79 percent of their two-point tries against the Raiders. Tim Olejniczak topped the Eagles with 24 points including 13-16 at the charity stripe. Jay Snyder scored 13 points, Jason Cameron 12 and Andy Harmsen 10 for Ankeny Christian. Colton Bolles did most of the board work as he had 13 rebounds and Malcom Mercer was the only other Raider with more than one as he pulled down two rebounds. David Showalter led the team in assists with nine and Jake Glendenning and Braydee Poore each had two steals.