Raiders two wins away from state basketball tournament berth
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Mt. Ayr 78, SEW 48
The Raiders had two big games back-to-back last week, starting off int he first round of substate against Southeast Warren.
The Warhawks and Raiders had played earlier in the year with the Raiders victorious after a 77-40 win.
This game was much of the same, with Mount Ayr coming out on top 78-48.
The Raiders made a strong opening statement, leading by 10 after the first quarter and doubling that lead at halftime to lead by 22.
The final half saw the Raiders able to rest their starters in anticipation for a knock-down, drag-out with Murray 24-hours later and the Raider bench came in late to finish the contest and advance the Raiders to the next game.
“I thought we did exactly what we had to do tonight,” said coach Ruggles. “Our starters got good quality minutes but they could always rest.”
Leading the Raiders against the Warhawks was Payton Weehler with 21 points, followed by Jaixen Frost with 18 and Erik Trujillo with 10.
“We’ve got to play better tomorrow night,” said Ruggles. “Any time you are in districts, the next round is always harder.”
Sats
1 2 3 4 F
MA 27 22 19 10 78
SEW 17 10 11 10 48
Offense
Pts FG 3 FT
Trujillo 10 4-6 0-0 2-2
Frost 18 7-12 1-3 3-3
Maudlin 6 3-5 0-0 0-0
Weehler 21 7-10 5-7 2-2
C.Larson 8 4-6 0-0 0-2
Stark 3 1-5 1-2 0-0
Reynolds 5 2-8 0-1 1-2
Pierson 3 1-2 1-2 0-0
R.Larson 4 1-3 0-0 2-2
Knapp 0 0-1 0-0 0-0
Sackett 0 0-0 0-0 0-0
Defense
R Ast S B
Trujillo 4 7 3 0
Frost 10 6 2 1
Maudlin 1 1 2 0
Weehler 4 5 3 0
C.Larson 1 2 0 0
Stark 2 1 0 0
Reynolds 5 0 5 0
Pierson 6 0 0 0
R.Larson 0 1 0 1
Knapp 1 0 0 0
Sackett 0 0 0 0
Mt. Ayr 50, Murray 47
The Raiders hosted the Murray Mustangs in the second contest between them this season, however, this time the winner would move on to the semifinals.
Their first meeting saw a tight win for the Raiders, 47-38.
This win was closer.
Murray led in the beginning before the Raiders took us to halftime with a 17-14 lead, but the Mustangs made adjustments at halftime and took a late lead through the third, outscoring the Raiders 22-16 in the quarter, to lead 36-34.
During the break between quarters, coach Bret Ruggles challenged his guys to want it more than the Mustangs.
The speech must have worked and the Raiders outpaced the Mustangs 17-11 to win by three.
The Mustangs were driven by Colton Siefkas with 20 points and Christian Nevarez with 12, all from the arc, and Jace Rodecker with eight.
The Raiders were led by Jaixen Frost with 16, Payton Weehler with 11 and Erik Trujillo with nine.
“In tournament play it’s survive and advance. They aren’t going to be pretty,” said coach Ruggles. “I’m proud of my guys. I really got into them more than I have in awhile. They accepted it really well, took the coaching and came back.”
The win put the Raiders into the semifinals against the Moravia Mohawks.
The winner of that contest will face the winner of Keota and Montezuma in Knoxville at 7 p.m. on February 27.
Sats
1 2 3 4 F
MM 7 7 22 11 47
MA 6 11 16 17 50
Offense
Pts FG 3 FT
Trujillo 9 4-8 1-3 0-2
Frost 16 4-9 2-4 4-4
Maudlin 3 1-3 0-1 1-1
Weehler 11 1-8 1-7 8-10
C.Larson 8 3-5 0-0 2-2
Reynolds 0 0-0 0-0 0-0
Pierson 3 1-2 1-1 0-0
R.Larson 0 0-1 0-1 0-0
Defense
R Ast S B
Trujillo 3 3 8 0
Frost 5 2 2 0
Maudlin 0 0 0 0
Weehler 2 3 0 0
C.Larson 5 0 0 1
Reynolds 1 0 0 0
Pierson 2 1 0 0
R.Larson 1 0 0 0
