Raiders fall 57-41 to POI leading Bedford

By Editor | January 24, 2024 |

The Mount Ayr boy’s basketball team welcomed the Pride of Iowa Conference leading Bedford Bulldogs to town for a POI showdown last Tuesday.
The Raiders had come into the game off of a non-conference game with Murray the previous night, but the game was postponed due to weather.
The Murray postponement was the third straight game lost to weather-related issues.
Mount Ayr and Bedford were co-champions of the POI with Central Decatur last year and play the Bulldogs only once in the regular season. Last week, the Bulldogs would take a 57-41 win.
Bedford led by ten points after the first quarter, 18-8. Mount Ayr would cut into the Bulldog lead in the second quarter by out-scoring Bedford 12-8 to get within six points, 26-20, at halftime.
Mount Ayr would trail by just one-point, 35-34 going to the final quarter. There, the Bulldogs would use a 22-7 run to get enough distance from the Raiders to capture the win.
The loss by Mount Ayr was their second POI defeat and gave the Bulldogs a two-game lead in the conference standings.
Tyler Martin led Mount Ayr in scoring with 19 points. Martin was 7-for-11 from the floor and 4-for-5 from the free throw line. Jackson Ruggles added ten points. Jaize Frost chipped in eight points and three rebounds. Martin led Mount Ayr in steals with four and Ryce Reynolds led in assists with eight and rebounds with five.
Last Friday, Mount Ayr outlasted Lenox to pick up a ten-point, 50-40 win over the Tigers. The victory set the Raiders record at 8-3 overall and helped the Raiders maintain their grip on second place in the POI with a 6-2 record.
Mount Ayr led by ten after the first quarter 14-4. Lenox cut into the Raider’s lead in the second quarter, out-scoring Mount Ayr 18 to 12 to trim the Raider’s lead to four points, 26-22 at halftime. Mount Ayr would find some breathing room going to the final quarter after a 12-5 run in the third quarter to take a 38-27 lead to the final quarter.
Mount Ayr statistics were not available after the game. Gabe Funk led Lenox with a double-double, scoring 24 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. No other Tiger had more than six points.
Bedford 57, Mount Ayr 41
1 2 3 4 Final
B 18 8 9 22 57
MA 8 12 14 7 41
BEDFORD (57): n/a.
MOUNT AYR (41): Jackson Ruggles 3-10 3-4 10, Ryce Reynolds 0-3 1-2 1, Jaize Frost 4-7 0-0 8, Tyler Martin 7-11 4-5 19, Tate Dugan 0-4 0-0 0, Louden Main 0-0 0-0 0, Trevin Victor 1-5 0-0 3, Hayes Stogdill 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 15-41 8-11 41.
3-Pt. FG: MA 3-13 (Victor 1-5, Ruggles 1-5, Martin 1-1, Reynolds 0-1, Frost 0-1). Rebounds: 16 (Reynolds 5, Frost 3, Dugan 3, Ruggles 2, Martin 1, Main 1, Stogdill 1). Assists: 8 (Reynolds 3, Martin 1, Dugan 1, Main 1, Victor 1, Stogdill 1). Steals: 12 (Martin 4, Dugan 2, Ruggles 2, Reynolds 1, Frost 1, Main 1, Stogdill 1). Total Fouls: 11. Fouled Out: none.