Raiders take share of POI title
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Mount Ayr 64,
Nodaway Valley 59
The Mount Ayr Raiders had a mission on Tuesday, January 31 when they traveled to Greenfield to face the Nodaway Valley Wolverines.
A victory over the Wolverines would keep the Pride of Iowa title alive for the Raiders.
In their first meeting this season, Nodaway Valley defeated Mount Ayr 71-60.
It was a physical battle between the two Pride of Iowa teams, and out of the gate, the Raiders led 13-10 after the first eight minutes of play.
Nodaway Valley fought back in the second to put the Raiders down by one heading into halftime, fueled by senior Boston DeVault who would make six three-pointers and go six-for-seven at the free throw line.
The third quarter saw the lead change multiple times, but Nodaway Valley looked like they might put the Raiders out of the POI title fight, leading 50-46 with only eight minutes left to play.
Mount Ayr’s Jaixen Frost started the fourth quarter with two points and would end up with a quick six-points to begin those final eight minutes as he played his way to a 30-point game.
With just under 30 seconds to play, the Raiders led by only one-point.
The Raiders, trying to extend their lead, while also allowing the clock to run saw the Wolverines begin to foul to get possession of the ball.
Frost would add two from the free throw line, his only trip of the night, which put the Raiders ahead.
The Raiders would win with free throws, to put the Raiders one game away from a title fight within the Pride of Iowa.
Frost led the team with 30 total points, 12 rebounds and four assists.
Braydon Pierson added 11 on the night and had four rebounds.
“The mentallity coming into the his game is if you make a mistake, get back,” said Pierson. “We can enjoy this tonight but tomorrow night is a fresh new page and we have to prepare for the conference title.”
Frost was a leader on the court, directing plays and giving encouragment at the charity stripe.
“This win feels amazing. I wanted this win and we had some mishaps in the game but we built chemistry working our way in this game and we all got pats on the back when the ball is turned over and we did a good job with that,” said Frost. “It was a slow start but we knew we needed to be clutch in the fourth quarter and we got it done.”
Coach Ruggles was very pleased with the win and the way his team performed under pressure at a venue he has only won a handful of times at.
“I’ve had five maybe six teams win at this place. When you win here it is everything you got,” said coach Bret Ruggles. “Our guys really fought tonight. Jaixen played out of his mind in the fourth quarter. He’s so dangerous of the dribble. I really challenged them at half and they responded really well.”
Stats
1 2 3 4 F
MA 13 13 20 18 64
NV 10 17 23 9 59
Offense
Pts FG 3 FT
Stark 6 1-4 1-1 3-7
Reynolds 5 2-5 0-0 1-2
Frost 30 13-24 2-4 2-2
Pierson 11 5-14 1-5 0-0
Martin 4 1-2 1-1 1-2
Ruggles 8 3-4 2-3 0-1
JaizeFrost 0 0-0 0-0 0-0
Defense
R Ast S B
Stark 2 1 0 0
Reynolds 2 5 1 0
Frost 12 4 3 0
Pierson 4 1 0 0
Martin 4 3 3 0
Ruggles 5 1 3 0
JaizeFrost 0 2 1 0
Mount Ayr 50,
Bedford 39
The Raiders hosted the Bedford Bulldogs last Friday in a meeting that put the Pride of Iowa title on the line.
With a Mount Ayr victory, the Raiders would share the title with Bedford, and possibly Central Decatur with a victory over Martensdale-St. Marys, and a loss would see Bedford hold the title with Central Decatur, pending the outcome of their game.
The Raiders fell to the Bulldogs in their first meeting, 55-44.
This meeting would go slightly different than it did in Bedford.
The Raiders started fast, putting Bedford in a 11-0 hole early, but the Bulldogs bounced back late in the first to trail 14-9 at the buzzer.
The Bulldog’s stayed hot through the second quarter which put the Raiders down at halftime, 21-18, as the Bulldogs allowed only four points to Mount Ayr in the second quarter.
After halftime, the Raiders came back with a renewed vigor, taking the lead in the third, outscoring Bedford 17-10.
The fourth quarter saw the same attack plan by the Raiders which helped them overcome the Bulldogs 50-39 and share the Pride of Iowa title.
Jaixen Frost led the team with 24 points, while Braydon Pierson scored 15.
Ryce Reynolds was a master at the boards, snagging 11 rebounds, while Riley Stark, Reynolds and Frost all recorded three steals.
After the game, the Raiders were all smiles, especially Pierson who had been a staple for the Raiders throughout the year.
“It’s not what we would like, we would like to have it ourselves,” joked Pierson. “We put ourselves to put it back and we worked very hard to get where we were tonight. These are the games I want to be apart. Every person in the crowd is into it. It was a great feeling and it was awesome.”
Frost shared the sentiment and was excited for the POI win over a tough Bulldog team.
“We were a little upset at halftime and came back and made that run,” said Frost. “Bedford is a physical team and always a tough team to play and we always face them down the road but it feels good to get that POI win.”
Frost also talked about a special moment on the court with his brother, Jaize Frost, a moment that looked to change the momentum of the game.
Jaize Frost was fouled and subsequently picked up by Jaixen and both were fueled by the moment that sent Jaize to the line.
“It’s brother love. It’s something I shared with Dawson [Frost] in the past and now with Jaize,” said Frost. “We live in the same household so it’s something we can talk about for the rest of our lives.”
Coach Ruggles was happy with the win but reiterated that he would’ve liked to have the first games against Nodaway Valley and Bedford back, as he doesn’t like to share, but is proud of his team through January and early February.
“We wanted Bedford from the time we wanted out of that gym. This is the moment we have wanted,” said coach Ruggles. “The practices we do, we put ourselves in tough situations. Maybe we were too overconfident and we came back after break and we were really humbled.”
Dyring halftime, Ruggles challenged his team to go out and get the win.
“I reminded them to play our game and in the second quarter they got back into their bully style,” said Ruggles. “We had to play our way and once we figured that out we did a great job and got great minutes out of bench.”
Stats
1 2 3 4 F
BB 9 12 10 8 39
MA 14 4 17 15 50
Offense
Pts FG 3 FT
Stark 0 0-4 0-2 0-0
Reynolds 3 0-2 0-0 3-4
Frost 24 8-17 3-5 5-6
Pierson 15 5-11 0-3 5-6
Martin 2 0-4 0-1 2-2
Ruggles 2 1-5 0-1 0-2
Dugan 0 0-0 0-0 0-0
JaizeFrost 4 2-2 0-0 0-1
Defense
R Ast S B
Stark 1 1 3 0
Reynolds 11 2 3 1
Frost 9 2 3 1
Pierson 8 2 2 0
Martin 3 2 1 1
Ruggles 4 1 0 0
Dugan 1 0 0 0
JaizeFrost 0 1 0 0
Mount Ayr 62,
Interstate-35 38
Mount Ayr traveled to the home of the Roadrunners on Monday night where they added yet another win to their tally to improve to 18-2 on the season after an impressive 62-38 win over the Interstate-35 Roadrunners.
Interstate-35 came out strong, taking an early 5-0 lead, but Mount Ayr found the bucket and went ahead 6-5 before leading the Roadrunners 16-10.
It was the second quarter in which Mount Ayr shined, not allowing any points to the Roadrunners until after three minutes in.
The Raiders led 32-14 at the buzzer.
The Mount Ayr offense, fueled by Jaixen Frost’s 16 points, continued to stretch the lead and by the end of the contest, the Raiders had added win number 18 on the season with a 62-38 victory.
Stats
1 2 3 4 F
MA 16 16 16 14 62
I35 10 4 13 11 38
Offense
Pts FG 3 FT
Stark 9 3-5 1-2 2-2
Reynolds 7 1-2 1-1 4-6
Frost 16 5-12 3-5 3-4
Pierson 3 1-6 1-4 0-1
Martin 6 1-3 1-2 3-4
Ehlen 0 0-1 0-0 0-0
Ruggles 7 2-5 1-2 2-2
Victor 0 0-0 0-0 0-0
Trujillo 2 1-1 0-0 0-0
Dugan 2 1-3 0-0 0-0
Main 0 0-0 0-0 0-0
Fooken 2 1-3 0-0 0-0
JaizeFrost 8 3-4 0-1 2-4
Defense
R Ast S B
Stark 0 2 5 0
Reynolds 4 1 2 0
Frost 6 2 5 0
Pierson 6 0 2 0
Martin 2 2 0 1
Ehlen 0 1 0 0
Ruggles 3 2 2 0
Victor 1 1 0 0
Trujillo 0 0 1 0
Dugan 0 1 1 1
Main 0 0 0 0
Fooken 3 0 0 0
JaizeFrost 5 1 0 0
