Raider basketball set to hit the hardwood next week
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A wholesale roster change for the Mount Ayr Raiders as they look to embark on Coach Ruggles 15th year leading the program. Mount Ayr will have to replace three starters and two bench members from last year’s team that was led by Erik Trujillo and Payten Weehler (both of who are on the all-time Raider basketball list in steals, points, and wins.) The Raiders finished last season with their third overall District Championship and a substate matchup with eventual state champion Montezuma.
For the 2021-22 season, the Raiders will be looking to lean on last year’s unanimous all Pride of Iowa selection guard Jaixen Frost who averaged 18 PPG, 5 SPG, and 7 APG as well as Cody Larsen who averaged 8 PPG and 8 RPG. Ryce Reynolds, who saw bulk minutes last year will be another staple in the offense this year as he transitions into a starting role. Top newcomers this year will be Braydon Pierson (JR), Raines Sackett (SR), Riley Stark (JR), and Klayton Yoder (JR) along with several very good freshman players.
“One of the greatest values of having an inexperienced team is that there is tons of competition for playing time, starters, and bench personnel. Those competitions will inevitably make us better as the year progresses, but it will create a challenge early in the season as there are many guys who have never played on a varsity floor. Everyone knows about Jaixen, so that will give a lot of opportunities to other players for scores as well as production across the board.”
“We really never change our expectations within our program… Be a great teammate, compete all 32 minutes, represent the program with class… nothing changes there. We always want to win the conference, we always want to win the district, but the “bones” of our program never change. I am really looking forward to seeing what comes out of this group and how we can compete at a very high level!”
The Raiders begin their season Monday, November 29
