Raiders down Red Oak, advance in districts

Mount Ayr 76, Red Oak 52
The Raider basketball team finished out the season with a record of 19-2 after adding a victory over the Red Oak Tigers last week.
It was a slow start for Mount Ayr, trailing the Tigers 11-9 after the first eight minutes as the Raiders top shooters struggled to get anything to fall.
“We needed to find our play style, a lot of hero ball going on, including me,” said senior Jaixen Frost. “I think I was zero-for-seven and I needed to calm down and give my teammates some shots and I’ll find it later and that’s exactly what happened.”
That is exactly what happened as the Raiders scored 27 points in the second quarter alone, while the Raider defense remained steady, allowing only 12 to head into halftime leading Red Oak 36-23.
The second-half saw the Raiders put up 40 points, while allowing 22, to take the victory.
Frost led the team in points with 26, while Braydon Pierson scored 13.
Both Riley Stark and Ryce Reynolds put up eight points each, while Stark also had the team-high in assists with five, along with snagging three steals and having one block.
Pierson and Tyler Martin led the Raiders in rebounds with seven each.
The Mount Ayr defense accounted for 13 steals and 19 rebounds, while the offense snagged 11 rebounds and moved the ball around to come up with 22 assists, while only giving up eight turnovers.
With a 19-2 finish, the Raiders coach Bret Ruggles, is pleased with how things wrapped up against Red Oak, but has his sights on the post-season.
“I told the guys in the locker room that I was really worried in October how we would handle an expectation season,” said coach Bret Ruggles. “It’s been awhile since we’ve had one of these. Our guys have been great about handling that, getting through the adverse moments, rallying together and when we had our moment we took advantage of it.”
The victory over Red Oak was an example of the Raiders rallying and taking advantage of a moment.
Down 18-15 and taking a time out, the Raiders came back and went on a 16-0 run to get a sizeable lead over the Tigers.
“After that timeout, we went on a huge run,” said coach Ruggles. “We put it away. That’s what we have to do.”
Stats
1 2 3 4 F
RO 11 12 12 17 52
MA 9 27 24 16 76
Offense
Pts FG 3 FT
Stark 8 2-5 2-3 2-2
Reynolds 8 3-8 2-4 0-0
Frost 26 9-18 3-4 5-6
Pierson 13 5-16 2-8 1-2
Martin 5 2-4 0-2 1-2
Ruggles 5 2-2 1-1 0-0
Dugan 0 0-1 0-0 0-0

Fooken 6 3-3 0-0 0-0
JaizeFrost 5 2-2 0-0 1-2
Defense
R Ast S B
Stark 1 5 3 1
Reynolds 3 0 3 0
Frost 5 5 4 2
Pierson 7 4 2 1
Martin 7 4 0 0
Ruggles 2 1 1 0
Dugan 0 1 0 0
Fooken 2 2 0 0
JaizeFrost 3 0 0 0
Mount Ayr 47,
Seymour 83
The Mount Ayr Raiders began district play on Monday, February 13 where they hosted the Seymour Warriors.
The Warriors couldn’t stop the Raider offense who scored 24 points in the first quarter and by halftime led Seymour 43-16.
Frost added 30 points on the night, despite not seeing the floor much in the second-half, while teammates Braydon Pierson scored 16 and Jackson Ruggles scored 12 to round out the double digit scorers.
Ruggles recorded 10 assists on the night for a double, double.
The victory pushes the Raiders on to the next round of districts, which they play tonight (Thursday, February 16) against Mormon Trail.
Coach Ruggles was pleased with how the Raiders handled things offensively but thought the defense could have done some things a little nicer.
“I thought we got out well, we shot the ball well, but defensively we were pretty weak but we could get away with it,” said coach Ruggles. “I keep telling them this graph gets exponentially bigger and it was a good win but Mormon Trail is here in two days and it’s a good win.”
Last season the Raiders fell in their second game of district play after traveling to North Mahaska and are now looking forward to Mormon Trail and advancing out of that frame.
“We got beat last year at North Mahaska in this round,” said coach Ruggles. “I think the guys have had this one circled to get through this one so this will be a big one for us.”
Stats
1 2 3 4 F
SW 9 7 7 24 47
MA 24 19 24 16 83
Offense
Pts FG 3 FT
Reynolds 2 1-3 0-2 0-0
Ruggles 12 4-6 2-4 2-2
Frost 30 12-17 4-6 2-2
Pierson 16 6-13 3-6 1-2
Martin 9 3-7 2-3 1-2
Ehlen 3 1-3 1-3 0-0
Victor 3 1-1 1-1 0-0
Trujillo 0 0-1 0-0 0-0
JaizeFrost 0 0-1 0-0 0-0
Dugan 0 0-1 0-0 0-0
Main 2 1-2 0-0 0-0
Fooken 2 1-2 0-0 0-0
Defense
R Ast S B
Reynolds 4 2 1 0
Ruggles 1 10 2 0
Frost 4 3 7 0
Pierson 8 4 2 0
Martin 8 4 2 0
Ehlen 0 0 0 0
Victor 0 2 0 0
Trujillo 1 1 0 0
JaizeFrost 2 1 0 1
Dugan 0 0 2 0
Main 0 0 0 0
Fooken 0 1 3 0Fooken 6 3-3 0-0 0-0
JaizeFrost 5 2-2 0-0 1-2
Defense
R Ast S B
Stark 1 5 3 1
Reynolds 3 0 3 0
Frost 5 5 4 2
Pierson 7 4 2 1
Martin 7 4 0 0
Ruggles 2 1 1 0
Dugan 0 1 0 0
Fooken 2 2 0 0
JaizeFrost 3 0 0 0
Mount Ayr 47,
Seymour 83
The Mount Ayr Raiders began district play on Monday, February 13 where they hosted the Seymour Warriors.
The Warriors couldn’t stop the Raider offense who scored 24 points in the first quarter and by halftime led Seymour 43-16.
Frost added 30 points on the night, despite not seeing the floor much in the second-half, while teammates Braydon Pierson scored 16 and Jackson Ruggles scored 12 to round out the double digit scorers.
Ruggles recorded 10 assists on the night for a double, double.
The victory pushes the Raiders on to the next round of districts, which they play tonight (Thursday, February 16) against Mormon Trail.
Coach Ruggles was pleased with how the Raiders handled things offensively but thought the defense could have done some things a little nicer.
“I thought we got out well, we shot the ball well, but defensively we were pretty weak but we could get away with it,” said coach Ruggles. “I keep telling them this graph gets exponentially bigger and it was a good win but Mormon Trail is here in two days and it’s a good win.”
Last season the Raiders fell in their second game of district play after traveling to North Mahaska and are now looking forward to Mormon Trail and advancing out of that frame.
“We got beat last year at North Mahaska in this round,” said coach Ruggles. “I think the guys have had this one circled to get through this one so this will be a big one for us.”
Stats
1 2 3 4 F
SW 9 7 7 24 47
MA 24 19 24 16 83
Offense
Pts FG 3 FT
Reynolds 2 1-3 0-2 0-0
Ruggles 12 4-6 2-4 2-2
Frost 30 12-17 4-6 2-2
Pierson 16 6-13 3-6 1-2
Martin 9 3-7 2-3 1-2
Ehlen 3 1-3 1-3 0-0
Victor 3 1-1 1-1 0-0
Trujillo 0 0-1 0-0 0-0
JaizeFrost 0 0-1 0-0 0-0
Dugan 0 0-1 0-0 0-0
Main 2 1-2 0-0 0-0
Fooken 2 1-2 0-0 0-0
Defense
R Ast S B
Reynolds 4 2 1 0
Ruggles 1 10 2 0
Frost 4 3 7 0
Pierson 8 4 2 0
Martin 8 4 2 0
Ehlen 0 0 0 0
Victor 0 2 0 0
Trujillo 1 1 0 0
JaizeFrost 2 1 0 1
Dugan 0 0 2 0
Main 0 0 0 0
Fooken 0 1 3 0