Raiders pick up big road win at MTSM
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The Mount Ayr boy’s basketball team picked up a big road win last Friday at Martensdale-St. Mary’s after a cold shooting first half, winning 40-32 to stay unbeaten in the POI.
The meeting was between two of the top-4 teams in the league so far. MTSM has surprised the league with eight overall wins and a POI record of two games over the .500 mark after losing a big senior class last year. The two teams met earlier this season with Mount Ayr winning 48-27 at home.
“We got bottlenecked up and struggled to run our offense in the first half,” said Mount Ayr head coach Brett Ruggles. “Before you get to the tournament, you have to play in hostile environments to learn about your team and we learned a lot in that game. At halftime, we needed to settle down. I told them, as bad as it was (our shooting/offense) that they (MTSM) didn’t get away from us. That gave us a lot of confidence to come back late in the game,” he said.
The Raiders trailed 12-7 after the first quarter. The Blue Devils got two early three pointers from Trey Wight and another three pointer from Cale Morrow to take a 9-0 lead. Mount Ayr would settle down and end the quarter on a 7-3 run. The Raiders first points came at the 4:00 mark of the quarter on an Adler Reed lay up to put the score at 9-2. Other Raider points came from Jaize Frost with a bucket and two free throws and another free throw from Tyler Martin.
The Raiders would use a 10-2 second quarter run to take a three-point, 17-14 lead at halftime. The Blue Devils hit the 14-point mark in the first minute of the quarter and did not score again in the first half. Raider Jackson Ruggles got hot from the floor and scored eight straight points for the Raiders to give Mount Ayr their first lead at 15-14 late in the quarter. A heads up play led to a turnover and last shot chance by the Raiders. Mount Ayr took advantage, executing on a play that saw Tyler Martin make a running shot as time expired to get the score to 17-14. Ruggles was 3-for-4 from the floor in the quarter.
Martensdale-St. Mary’s wouldn’t go away in the third, going on a 15-7 run to take a 29-24 lead to the final quarter. The Blue Devils ended the quarter on a 7-2 run. Mount Ayr got a big three pointer from Jaiza Frost with 5:53 left to take a 22-19 lead, their last of the quarter.
In the final quarter, Mount Ayr trailed 31-26 with 3:30 left in the game, after starting the quarter shooting 1-for-5 from the floor. Then things changed. The Raiders got a three-point play from Martin to set the score at 31-28. Ruggles followed with a big three pointer to give the Raiders a 32-31 lead with 2:56 left in the game. Another Martin hoop set the score at 34-31 and the Raiders wouldn’t trail again in the game. The Raiders would make 6-of-8 free throws down the stretch to complete the comeback. In all, the Raiders outscored the Blue Devils 14-1 in the final 3:30. Also key in the stretch was that the Blue Devils went ice cold from the floor, missing all ten shots from the floor including eight three pointers.
Ruggles led all scorers with 18 points to go with 6 rebounds and 2 steals. Martin finished with 11 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 steals. MTSM was led by Trey Wight with 14 points and 8 rebounds.
“They really played good defense and it took a while to adjust. Late, they fell in love with the three-point shot and we took advantage of their misses,” said Ruggles.
There is still a lot of basketball left in the season, but Mount Ayr will hit the road soon for a key five-game road test later this month. Before that, they play a home Tuesday against Nodaway Valley and at SE Warren Thursday in a make-up game. The Raiders will play at Murray on January 20.
Mount Ayr 40,
Martensdale-St. Mary’s 32
Friday, January 10 at Martensdale
1 2 3 4 Final
MA 7 10 7 16 40
MTSM 12 2 15 3 32
MOUNT AYR (40): Jackson Ruggles 5-17 5-6 18, Trevin Victor 0-0 0-0 0, Jaize Frost 2-3 2-2 7, Tyler Martin 4-10 3-5 11, Tate Dugan 1-1 0-0 2, Hayes Stogdill 0-1 0-0 0, Adler Reed 1-1 0-0 2, Louden Main 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 13-34 10-13 40.
MTSM (32): Jack Rezac 0-5 0-0 0, Cale Morrow 1-9 0-2 3, Jack Gavin 2-9 0-0 5, Colton Wight 1-1 3-4 5, Trey Wight 4-10 3-7 14, Jason Fugate 0-3 1-2 1, Travis White 2-4 0-2 4, Dominic Yates 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 10-42 7-17 32.
3-Pt. FG: 4-11 (Ruggles 3-6, Frost 1-1, Martin 0-3, Stogdill 0-1). Rebounds: 33 (Dugan 8, Main 6, Ruggles 6, Martin 4, Frost 2, Reed 2, Victor 1, Stogdill 1). Assists: 5 (Reed 2, Martin 1, Victor 1). Steals: 8 (Martin 3, Ruggles 2, Dugan 1, Reed 1, Main 1). Blocked Shots: 3 (Frost 2, Victor 1). Turnovers: 12. Total Fouls: 15. Fouled Out: none.