Seniors recall their final season
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By Dalton Shadle
MOUNT AYR, Iowa – Last week the Raiders and Raiderettes both ended their postseason basketball runs. Not only were the games the last of the season but also the last game for seven seniors.
Seniors Jackson Ruggles, Zech Ranker, Jaxson Greene, Tate Dugan, Rowan Sackett, Kacie Larsen, and Kensie Barnes stepped off the court one final time.
Ruggles ended his senior year with 519 points and 114 rebounds. Ranker ended his senior year with 16 points and two rebounds. Greene ended with 97 points and 36 rebounds. Dugan ended with 250 points and 173 rebounds. Sackett scored 54 points scored and grabbed 51 rebounds.
For the girls, Larsen ended her senior year with 34 points and 41 rebounds. Barnes finished the year with eight points and 16 rebounds.
With the season ending the seniors shared how they felt about the season along with their favorite moments.
Both the Mount Ayr boys and girls basketball teams ended as conference champions this year with all the seniors being proud of how good they did in the season.
Tate Dugan
“I thought the season went good. It was a lot of fun, definitely the most fun I’ve had playing basketball. Obviously, we didn’t finish where we wanted to be, but winning the conference is a lot and was definitely one of our goals. So I thought it went good overall.
“Favorite moment is probably just getting to spend time with these guys that I’ve played with since elementary school. We’ve grown up together. We’ve done everything together, so it’s been just great getting to share one last season.”
Jaxson Greene
“We did pretty well in the season. We won the POI so that was good, and then we lost in the second round. It was kind of disappointing. But you know, stuff happens. Just being on the bus with the guys and messing around before games (was my favorite memory).”
Zech Ranker
“I felt like it was pretty good. Winning the POI was pretty nice. My favorite moment was probably just being around my teammates and friends.”
Jackson Ruggles
“I thought the season went very well. You know, we won the POI. You know, not a lot of teams can say they did that. We had some ups and downs throughout the season, but it was still pretty fun with the guys we played with. And (I’m gonna) miss these five seniors. You know, we’ve been with each other since fourth grade. We’ve had a couple others, but they bailed out on us. But these guys were ones that stuck together.
Rowan Sackett
“It was pretty good. It was sad that it ended. But we ended the second round, not where we wanted to be. But POI champs is good thing, the bus rides home after the away games (were favorite memory).”
Kensie Barnes
“My last season, this season, was really good. We went pretty far. I feel like, physically and team wise, we’ve done really good, and you’re able to bond together and everything like that.
My favorite moment from playing basketball is one practice. Our floor was really slick, and Izzy Gilbertson fell and Dannie fell. And it was funny.”
Kacie Larsen
“I feel like I was really proud of myself with how I came back, my previous year I had a torn ACL. So it was nice just to be able to have my senior year, and I’m really grateful for it. I also liked our team aspect. We had a really good group all together and worked well together.”
“I think my favorite moment was listening to music before games, and it kind of makes it feel like you’re all together and you’re all having fun, and it gets you ready to play.”
