The Mount Ayr boy’s basketball team will take a 3-game win streak into Christmas break after getting a Pride of Iowa Conference road victory on Tuesday, December 19 at Nodaway Valley. There, the Raiders would score a season-high 81 points in an 81-40 win over the Wolverines. Mount Ayr improved to 6-2 overall and 4-1 in the POI. The Raiders are one game behind the POI-leading Bedford Bulldogs.
Mount Ayr’s Trevin Victor comes up with a loose ball during the Raider’s east victory over Nodaway Valley. PHOTO BY DARLA SOBOTKA.
The win was the third in a row for Mount Ayr, having added their win at Nodaway Valley to victories over Worth County, Missouri, and SE Warren before that.
The Wolverines fell to 0-7 overall and 0-4 in the POI.
The Raiders led 21-10 after the first quarter and held the Wolverines to single digits until the final minute of the quarter. Nodaway Valley was stuck on ten points for over three minutes to start the second quarter. Mount Ayr would outscore Nodaway Valley 17-10 to build a halftime lead of 18 points, 38-20.
The Raiders put the game away in the third quarter, using a 24-9 run to take a 62-29 lead to the fourth quarter. The game had a margin of 35 points in the second half and the continuous clock was activated in the fourth quarter.
Ryce Reynolds added 12 points and 3 rebounds.
Three Mount Ayr players scored in double figures in the game. Jackson Ruggles led Mount Ayr with 23 points to go with 4 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 steals. Tyler Martin scored 20 points and had 8 rebounds, 6 assists, and 3 steals. Ryce Reynolds added 12 points and 3 rebounds. The Raiders shot 55-percent from the floor in the game and made 8-of-11 free throw attempts.
Mount Ayr made seven three-pointers in the game.
The Raiders got a boost from the return of injured player Jaize Frost. Frost missed two games after recovering from an eye injury suffered in the Raiders loss to Bedford. Frost finished with 5 points, 1 steal, and 1 rebound.
Nodaway Valley was led by Dawson Nelson with 27 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 steals. Jacob Mangels added 11 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 steals. The Wolverines shot 31-percent from the floor and were 7-for-10 from the free-throw line. They made five three-pointers.
The two teams will play at Mount Ayr on January 30. Out of Christmas break, Mount Ayr will host Martensdale-St. Mary’s on January 5 before traveling to SW Valley on January 9 and Central Decatur on January 11. The Raiders will play their first non-conference game after the break on January 15 when the Murray Mustangs come to town.
Mount Ayr 81, Nodaway Valley 40
1 2 3 4 Final
MA 21 17 24 19 81
NV 10 10 9 11 40
MOUNT AYR: Jackson Ruggles 10-15 1-1 23, Ryce Reynolds 6-10 0-0 12, Tyler Martin 7-16 3-4 20, Tate Dugan 3-3 2-2 8, Louden Main 1-3 0-0 2, Tyler Still 0-0 0-0 0, Adler Reed 0-0 1-2 1, Trevin Victor 2-6 0-0 4, Jaize Frost 2-2 1-2 5, Hayes Stogdill 2-3 0-0 6, Rowan Sackett 0-0 0-0 0, Aidan Murphy 0-2 0-0 0. Totals: 33-60 8-11 81.
NODAWAY VALLEY (40): Jacob Mangels 4-12 0-0 11, Ben Hoover 1-3 0-2 2, Titus Hamer 0-3 0-0 0, Dawson Nelson 9-22 7-8 27, Ty Rardin 0-2 0-0 0, Christian Putney 0-1 0-0 0, Bryar Hudson 0-0 0-0 0, Garrett Welsch 0-1 0-0 0, Parker Schneider 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 14-44 7-10 40.
3-Pt. FG: 7-21 (Martin 3-6, Ruggles 2-5, Stogdill 2-2, Reynolds 0-4, Victor 0-4). Rebounds: 30 (Martin 8, Dugan 4, Ruggles 4, Reynolds 3, Main 3, Sackett 3, Murphy 3, Reed 1, Frost 1). Assists: 13 (Martin 6, Victor 3, Main 3, Ruggles 3, Dugan 2, Reed 2, Reynolds 1). Steals: 13 (Ruggles 3, Martin 3, Victor 2, Dugan 1, Main 1, Frost 1, Stogdill 1, Murphy 1). Total Fouls: 10. Fouled Out: none.
