Middle School Raiderettes finish season
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Middle School Raiderettes finish season
The Mount Ayr middle school girl’s basketball teams traveled to Interstate-35 in Truro on January 25 for their last games of the season.
The teams wanted to win, having felt they let one get away the last time the two teams met in Mount Ayr.
On a rainy and foggy night, the first game started very rough. I-35 had improved quite a bit and had several girls rotating to keep their legs fresh. The Roadrunners played a man-to-man defense with a lot of ball pressure and it gave Mount Ayr trouble early on. The Raiderettes trailed 23-10 at the half.
“We talked at halftime and challenged the eighth graders. This was their last half of middle school basketball,” said coach Josh Vanderflught.
They responded, coming out swinging in the second half. Mount Ayr cut the lead to 28-24 at the end of the third, out-scoring I-35 14-5. Vanderflught said it was easily the best quarter his team played all season. In the fourth quarter, Mount Ayr missed some easy shots and got tired, and would fall 35-30. Mount Ayr did outscore I-35 20-12 in the second half.
Scoring for the Raiderettes were Emma Reynolds 22, Sophia West 3, Kate Newton 3, and Claire Routh 2 points.
The second game started very slowly and saw Mount Ayr trail 6-2 at the end of the first quarter. The second quarter was the same as the Roadrunner lead extended to 12-4 at the half.
“We struggled to handle the ball against their man-to-man pressure. When we did get it where we needed to, we struggled to make easy shots. At halftime, we adjusted our offense a little bit and that helped a little.” said Vanderflught.
In the third quarter, Mount Ayr struggled with not turning the ball over and trailed 23-10 after three quarters. The Raiderttes rallied and outscored I-35 9-6 in the final quarter, but could not get closer than the final score of 29-19.
Scoring points for Mount Ayr were Bralyn Martin 9, Irais Trujillo 3, Talyn Greene 3, Kenleigh Fooken 2, and Teyanna Combs 2 points.
“This season was a lot of fun for Coach Jarred and I. We enjoyed the girls and thought they made a lot of progress. We left them with advice to keep improving. They need to hit the weight room in the mornings to get stronger, make sure to work hard each day at practice, and BE CONFIDENT! They are capable of more than they know! Thank you for sharing them with us for a season,” said Vanderflught.
