Raiders wins sets up chance at big week

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A big week is ahead for the Mount Ayr boy’s basketball team as the Raiders have a chance for a share of the Pride of Iowa Conference title.
Non-conference games against Lenox and SE Warren are on the schedule this week as the Raiders begin the week a game behind SE Warren in the POI standings. SE Warren beat Mount Ayr 61-40 and is 12-1 in the POI while Mount Ayr is 11-1. Both teams have only two overall losses. But, to get there to set up the big game at home, the Raiders have to win at Lenox Tuesday night. The Tigers are 5-7 in the POI but have one of the conference’s top players in senior Gabe Funk.
“We have a big game at Lenox this week. Before we can play SE Warren, and we want to, we have to focus and be ready for a good Lenox team. They have some good players and like to be active. Then, Friday we hope that the SE Warren game still has some meaning for the POI title chase,” said Mount Ayr head coach Bret Ruggles.
After this week is over, the Raiders will play on the road for their final three games. Mount Ayr will be at Interstate-35 on February 3, at Central Decatur on February 4, and at East Union on February 7.
The Raiders played three times last week and won all three games to improve to 14-2 and pick up three wins after losing to SE Warren on January 16. The Raiders wins were all on the road with a 64-31 win at Murray, a 59-49 win at SW Valley, and a 63-55 win at Wayne.
The week began with a non-conference game at Murray.
The Mustangs came into the game with nine wins, but had lost two straight Bluegrass Conference games.
The Raiders didn’t wait long to get a big lead, leading early 28-2 after the first quarter. The Mustangs outscored Mount Ayr in the second quarter, but the Raiders lead took them to halftime, up 37-15. A 22-9 third quarter run gave the game to the Raiders.
The win was the eighth straight for Mount Ayr over Murray. The two teams had not played in nearly two years with the last game on January 16, 2023.
“Murray played without the Page kid who is their leading scorer at 13.7 a game. The final score wasn’t indicative of a score from a game with him in there. Anytime you play Murray in Murray it is tough. They have a lot of small town pride and a small gym. Their dad, their grandpa bleeds purple. There is a lot of pride on their part,” said Ruggles
Mount Ayr got up early 8-0 before the Mustangs called a time out. After the time out the Raiders hit a three pointer and got the lead up to 14-0. The Mustangs tried using a box and 1 defense on junior guard Jackson Ruggles. It didn’t work.
Mount Ayr shot 45-percent from the floor and made four three pointers in the game. The Raiders also made more free throws (14) than the Mustangs attempted (7).
Three Raiders reached double figures in the game. Jackson Ruggles scored 20 points including 3-for-5 three pointers, and had 6 assists. Tyler Martin had 11 points and Jaize Frost scored 10 points and had 9 rebounds. Tate Dugan led the Raiders in rebounds with 10 as the Raiders dominated the boards in the game, holding a 45 to 16 advantage. Murray was led by Nataniel Rowe who scored 13 points.
The middle part of the week was a good one for Mount Ayr, as they completed a season sweep over SW Valley, beating the Timberwolves by ten points, 59-49 last Tuesday.
The Raiders won in Mount Ayr back in mid-December 73-65. The Raiders would trail 23-18 at halftime, but a big 24-11 run in the third quarter and 41 second half points helped the Raiders get the victory. SW Valley came into the game, having nearly beaten SE Warren before losing 61-57 on January 17. The loss to the Raiders was their second straight.
Mount Ayr had two players scored in double figures led by Tyler Martin who scored 18 points and Jackson Ruggles who had 15 points. Tate Dugan nearly had a double-double, scoring 8 points and grabbing a team high 11 rebounds. The Raiders held a 28 to 23 rebound advantage in the game and shot 45-percent from the floor and did not miss a free throw attempt in the game.
Cael Hogan led all scorers with 20 points and 6 rebounds. Alex Morgan had 17 points and 6 rebounds and Walker Bissell scored 5 points and had 8 rebounds to lead SW Valley.
The Raiders ended the week with a win over Wayne in Corydon, 63-55. It was the second win of the year over the Falcons as the Raiders beat the Falcons 60-37 in mid-December. The win was the second in a row over Wayne and 8th in the last 9 meetings. The Raiders led by just one-point, 28-27 at halftime after leading by four points after the first quarter. After halftime, Mount Ayr used an 18-point quarter to extend their narrow halftime lead to a 46-36 lead after three quarters.

Wayne tried to fight back out scoring Mount Ayr by two points in the final quarter, but it wasn’t enough.
Three Raiders finished in double figures led by Jackson Ruggles with 19 points. Jaize Frost had 15 points and 6 rebounds and Tyler Martin scored 12 points and had 5 rebounds. Tate Dugan led Mount Ayr in rebounding with nine.

Mount Ayr 63, Wayne 55
Friday, January 24 at Corydon

1 2 3 4 Final
MA 15 13 18 17 63
W 11 16 9 19 55

MOUNT AYR (63): Jackson Ruggles 5-13 7-10 19, Trevin Victor 0-1 0-0 0, Jaize Frost 7-10 1-3 15, Tyler Martin 5-12 2-2 12, Tate Dugan 4-9 3-3 11, Hayes Stogdill 2-5 0-0 6, Adler Reed 0-2 0-0 0, Louden Main 0-1 0-0 0, Rowan Sackett 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 23-53 13-18 63.

WAYNE (55): Ruger Berndt 3-11 2-2 9, Hunter Taylor 3-6 4-6 11, Jaedyn Schoolcraft 8-15 0-0 24, Braden Werts 2-9 0-0 4, Carter Sinclair 0-4 0-0 0, Maddux Moore 0-4 0-0 0, Wyatt Myers 0-1 0-0 0, Gage Swan 3-13 1-2 7. Totals: 19-63 7-10 55.

3-Pt. FG: MA (4-14 (Ruggles 2-5, Stogdill 2-3, Martin 0-3, Reed 0-2, Main 0-1), Wayne 10-18 (Schoolcraft 8-10, Berndt 1-5, Taylor 1-2, Werts 0-1). Rebounds: MA 30 (Dugan 9, Frost 6, Martin 5, Ruggles 3, Reed 3, Main 3, Stogdill 1), Wayne 38 (Werts 11, Swan 7, Sinclair 6). Assists: MA 13 (Reed 4, Victor 4, Martin 2, Ruggles 1, Stogdill 1, Main 1), Wayne 11 (Berndt 5). Steals: MA 12 (Martin 3, Ruggles 2, Victor 2, Frost 2, Dugan 1, Stogdill 1, Reed 1), Wayne 7 (Schoolcraft 3). Blocked Shots: MA 5 (Frost 2, Reed 2, Ruggles 1), Wayne none. Turnovers: MA 10, Wayne 18. Total Fouls: MA 14, Wayne 22. Fouled Out: MA Martin, Wayne, Sinclair.

Mount Ayr 59, SW Valley 49
Tuesday, January 21 at Corning

1 2 3 4 Final
MA 11 7 24 17 59
SWV 15 8 11 15 49

MOUNT AYR (59): Jackson Ruggles 4-14 4-4 15, Trevin Victor 0-2 0-0 0, Jaize Frost 4-4 1-1 9, Tyler Martin 7-14 2-2 18, Tate Dugan 4-8 0-0 8, Hayes Stogdill 0-0 0-0 0, Adler Reed 2-4 2-2 7, Louden Main 1-2 0-0 2. Totals: 22-48 9-9 59.

SW VALLEY (49): Walker Bissell 2-10 0-0 5, Alex Morgan 6-8 4-6 17, Cael Hogan 6-17 5-7 20, Wyatt Mendenhall 2-10 0-0 5, Devin Greenwalt 1-4 0-0 2, Theron Mullen 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 17-50 9-13 49.

3-Pt. FG: MA 6-16 (Ruggles 3-8, Martin 2-4, Reed 1-2, Victor 0-2), SWV 6-26 (Hogan 3-11, Mendenhall 1-7, Bissell 1-7, Morgan 1-1). Rebounds: MA 28 (Dugan 11, Martin 5, Main 4, Ruggles 4, Frost 2, Victor 1, Reed 1), SWV 23 (Bissell 8). Assists: MA 13 (Victor 4, Ruggles 2, Dugan 2, Frost 1, Martin 1, Stogdill 1, Reed 1, Main 1), SWV 7 (Greenwalt 2, Hogan 2). Steals: MA 6 (Reed 2, Ruggles 2, Martin 1, Dugan 1), SWV 5 (Bissell 2). Blocked Shots: MA 5 (Frost 3, Ruggles 1, Reed 1), SWV 3 (Morgan 2). Turnovers: MA 9, SWV 9. Fouled Out: none.

Mount Ayr 64, Murray 31
Monday, January 20 at Murray

1 2 3 4 Final
MA 28 9 22 5 64
M 2 13 9 7 31

MOUNT AYR (64): Jackson Ruggles 7-14 3-5 20, Trevin Victor 1-2 1-2 3, Jaize Frost 4-8 2-4 10, Tyler Martin 3-9 5-8 11, Tate Dugan 3-4 1-4 7, Hayes Stogdill 1-4 0-0 2, Adler Reed 3-3 2-4 8, Jaxson Greene 0-1 0-0 0, Louden Main 0-1 0-0 0, Rowan Sackett 0-2 0-0 0, Drew Graham 0-2 0-0 0, Avery Wolfe 1-1 0-0 3. Totals: 23-51 14-27 64.

MURRAY (31): Nathaniel Rowe 4-11 3-3 13, AJ Clarke 1-8 2-2 5, Jacob Keller 3-12 0-0 6, Daniel Gard 0-1 1-2 1, Austin Peterson 0-3 0-0 0, Keaton Brammer 0-1 0-0 0, Lawson Cleghorn 3-9 0-0 6. Totals: 11-45 6-7 31.

3-Pt. FG: MA 4-11 (Ruggles 3-5, Wolfe 1-1, Victor 0-1, Martin 0-1, Stogdill 0-1, Greene 0-1, Main 0-1), Murray 3-21 (Rowe 2-7, Clarke 1-5, Keller 0-4, Cleghorn 0-3, Brammer 0-1, Peterson 0-1). Rebounds: 45 (Dugan 10, Frost 9, Main 6, Ruggles 5, Martin 3, Reed 3, Sackett 2, Victor 1, Stogdill 1, Wolfe 1), Murray 16 (Keller 6). Assists: MA 15 (Ruggles 6, Victor 2, Frost 2, Stogdill 2, Martin 1, Reed 1, Main 1), Murray 8 (Rowe 5). Steals: MA 13 (Ruggles 3, Victor 3, Martin 2, Main 2, Frost 1, Dugan 1, Reed 1), Murray 8 (Rowe 4). Blocked Shots: MA 4 (Frost 2, Ruggles 1, Martin 1), Murray 4 (Clarke 2). Turnovers: Mount Ayr 14, Murray 17. Total Fouls: Mount Ayr 9, Murray 14. Fouled Out: Austin Peterson.