Mount Ayr vs Interstate-35 to be known as ‘Beat Cancer’ game
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Mt. Ayr 60, I35 39
On Monday night, the Raiders hosted the Interstate-35 Roadrunners. Before the game began, the Raiders introducted Roadrunner head coach Nate Rankin’s wife, Katy Rankin, who was recently diagnosed with stage 1 breast cancer. The Raider team was sporting new warm-ups in the form of t-shirts that read “4KTY” on the front, while the back read the name of a loved one affected by cancer. Mount Ayr basketball has had it’s own brush with cancer, with coach Bret Ruggles having fought the battle against the disease himself. They announced the game between Interstate-35 and Mount Ayr would now be called the “Beat Cancer” game.
The Raiders had a slow start against the Interstate-35 Roadrunners Monday night, but pulled out a 60-39 win to improve to 17-2 on the season.
The Roadrunners stuck with Mount Ayr throughout the night, trailing 26-21.
By the middle of the third quarter, the Mount Ayr coaches decided a change was in order and subbed in the bench.
“I’ve said all year long, our backup team could start other places,” said coach Ruggles. “They showed it tonight. That second group got this win for us.”
The second team put the Raiders in a position to win, going up by 10 points. The starters sat until the fourth quarter. When they came back in their energy level was higher and the Raiders increased their lead over the Roadrunners.
Leading the way was Jaixen Frost with 14 points, followed by Dawson Frost with 13 and Isaac Grose with 12.
The Raiders will face Clarinda Academy tonight (Thursday, February 13) for the last game of the regular season. They will then play the winner of Clarinda Academy and Essex on February 20 in Mount Ayr. (See full bracket on page 13).
“Watching film and showing how bad their defense right now [is how we stay fresh],” said coach Ruggles. “We let way too many dribble drives, guys got to the rim, we’ve got to do a much better job on defense and with a lot more energy.”
Stats
1 2 3 4 F
MA 6 17 21 15 59
I35 13 11 14 15 53
Offense
Pts FG 3 FT
C.Lambert 3 1-4 1-2 0-0
Klommhaus 0 0-0 0-0 0-0
J.Frost 14 5-8 2-3 2-5
I.Grose 12 4-7 0-1 4-4
D.Frost 13 3-6 1-2 6-6
Z.Doster 0 0-0 0-0 0-0
P.Weehler 3 1-7 1-3 0-0
D.Elwood 5 2-3 0-0 1-3
C.Clymer 8 3-6 0-0 2-4
A.Greenland 2 1-3 0-0 0-0
Defense
R Ast S B
C.Lambert 0 3 0 0
Klommhaus 1 1 1 0
J.Frost 4 1 1 1
I.Grose 7 1 0 0
D.Frost 6 1 0 3
Z.Doster 0 1 0 0
P.Weehler 4 2 2 0
D.Elwood 6 0 1 0
C.Clymer 4 0 0 2
Greenland 3 0 0 0
Mt. Ayr 52, NV 51
The Raiders won an exciting game over the Nodaway Valley Wolverines last Tuesday night, a game that came down to the buzzer.
Mount Ayr had been down for the first half, before battling back through the second to take a three-point lead.
As the buzzer sounded, Josh Baudler of Nodaway Valley shot a three, but drew a foul. His shot missed and Baudler took a trip to the line.
“We noticed early in the game he was struggling shooting,” saidcoach Bret Ruggles. “It’s tough, you’re asking a 17 year old kid to make three free throws with nobody on the line, it’s a very difficult thing.”
Baudler had only been to the line once before throughout the game, and was four-of-12 inside the paint.
He stood at the line alone. Three free throws and he could tie the game. His shot left his hand and was just off the mark, hitting the rim and bouncing off. Baudler hung his head, knowing the game was lost, but he took possession of the ball and sank the next two, bringing the score to 52-51, in favor of Mount Ayr.
Leading the scoring for Mount Ayr was Jaixen Frost with 13.
Five other Raiders put points on the board to help in the battle against the Wolverines.
Isaac Grose led the Raiders under the joop with nine rebounds, while Payton Weehler had five assists, leading the Raiders in that category.
“We have just been very tough,” said coach Ruggles. “We stay the course, we keep pounding the ball. We just kept crawling back in it possession by possession.”
Stats
1 2 3 4 F
MA 16 12 12 12 52
NV 20 15 10 6 51
Offense
Pts FG 3 FT
C.Lambert 8 2-5 2-5 2-3
Klommhaus 0 0-0 0-0 0-0
J.Frost 13 5-9 3-6 0-1
I.Grose 9 4-8 0-1 1-2
D.Frost 9 3-11 0-3 3-4
P.Weehler 5 1-6 0-2 3-4
D.Elwood 0 0-1 0-0 0-0
C.Clymer 8 4-8 0-0 0-0
Defense
R Ast S B
C.Lambert 0 3 1 0
Klommhaus 0 0 0 0
J.Frost 6 1 2 2
I.Grose 9 1 0 0
D.Frost 8 3 2 2
P.Weehler 2 5 1 0
D.Elwood 0 0 0 0
C.Clymer 4 0 1 3
Mt. Ayr 67, Bedford 55
The Raiders traveled to Bedford for a POI matchup against an old rival in the Bulldogs.
Mount Ayr started out hot, leading the Bulldogs 20-12 after one, but through two the Bulldogs matched the Raiders with 15 points.
Bedford attempted a comeback in the third, scoring 17 points to Mount Ayr’s 13, but the Raiders secured it in the fourth with 19 points over Bedford’s 11.
Leading the Raiders was Payton Weehler with 22 points, followed by Dawson Frost with 14 and Cayden Lambert with 10.
Stats
1 2 3 4 F
MA 20 15 13 19 67
BED 12 15 17 11 55
Offense
Pts FG 3 FT
C.Lambert 10 3-8 2-4 2-2
Klommhaus 0 0-0 0-0 0-0
J.Frost 9 4-6 1-2 0-0
I.Grose 7 3-9 1-2 0-0
D.Frost 14 4-8 0-1 6-7
Z.Doster 0 0-0 0-0 0-0
P.Weehler 22 7-12 3-5 5-6
D.Elwood 1 0-1 0-0 1-2
C.Clymer 4 2-4 0-0 0-0
Defense
R Ast S B
C.Lambert 0 1 1 0
Klommhaus 2 0 0 0
J.Frost 5 0 0 0
I.Grose 11 2 0 0
D.Frost 11 4 1 0
Z.Doster 0 0 0 0
P.Weehler 3 2 3 1
D.Elwood 3 0 0 2
C.Clymer 2 0 1 1