Mount Ayr hoopsters earn all-state honors
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The postseason honors continue to roll in for the Mount Ayr girl’s basketball team.
Coming off of a Pride of Iowa Conference title and state ranking, the Raiderette program found out that two players were named to the Class 1A Region 6 team.
Breya Nickle (left)
The selections were senior Breya Nickle and sophomore Izzy Gilbertson.
Other selections were Ellen Cook and Shiressa Wetering from Montezuma, Saide Cox and Zoey Reed from Lenox, Hailey Randall from SW Valley, and Taylor Hensen from Lamoni.
Nickle had 13 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists against Lamoni. Nickle had 5 points and 5 rebounds against Lenox. Gilbertson had 12 points, 10 rebounds, 5 steals, and 4 blocked shots against Lamoni. Gilbertson had 16 points, 12 rebounds, and 4 steals against Lenox.
Izzy Gilbertson
Montezuma beat Lenox 49-37 in the Region 6 Final to advance to the state tournament. Montezuma beat Moravia 64-27 and Melcher-Dallas 66-26 in the regional semifinals while Lenox beat SW Valleey 46-42, Wayne 48-31, and Mount Ayr 36-32 in the regional semifinals. The Raiderettes advanced to the semifinals with a 67-36 win over Lamoni.
Teams in the 1A Region 6 bracket were Moravia, Mormon Trail, Melcher-Dallas, SE Warren, Murray, East Union, Lamoni, Seymour, Lenox, SW Valley, Wayne, Diagonal, Mount Ayr, and Montezuma.
Class 1A
Region 6 Team
Izzy Gilbertson (Mount Ayr) So., Ellen Cook (Montezuma) Sr., Sadie Cox (Lenox) Sr., Zoey Reed (Lenox) Sr., Hailey Randall (SW Valley) Jr., Shiressa Wetering (Montezuma) Sr., Breya Nickle (Mount Ayr) Sr., Taylor Hensen (Lamoni) Sr.
Ruggles named to All-Substate 7 team
The recently wrapped up 2024-25 boy’s basketball season saw more postseason honors come to Mount Ayr.
The Iowa Basketball Coaches Association recently released their Class 1A Substate 7 team.
Jackson Ruggles named to All-Substate 7 team
On that team, was Mount Ayr junior Jackson Ruggles. The Raiders finished the season with 20 wins.
Joining Ruggles were Cal Heydon Coon Rapids-Bayard, Carter Gruver Woodbine, Gabe Funk Lenox, Cal Peterman Bedford, Luke Sternberg AHSTW, Landon Blum Woodbine, and Braedon Godfread Sidney.
Ruggles led the Raiders in scoring in all of Mount Ayr’s postseason games. Ruggles had 25 points in the Raiders win over Lenox. Ruggles had 26 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals, and 2 blocked shots in Mount Ayr’s win over East Mills. Ruggles had 13 points, 7 rebounds, and 2 assists in the district’s final loss to the Crusaders.
Mount Ayr won the district game against Lenox 64-50 and East Mills 56-44 to reach a 1A district final game.
In the district final at West Central Valley High School, Mount Ayr fell to state-ranked Coon Rapids-Bayard, 67-41.
In the Substate Final, a match-up between two state-ranked teams, saw Woodbine beat Coon Rapids-Bayard 50-41 to advance to the state tournament.
Teams in Class 1A Substate 7 were Nodaway Valley, Diagonal, Hamburg, Essex, Sidney, Riverside, Bedford, Fremont-Mills, AHSTW, SW Valley, Woodbine, Griswold, East Mills, Lenox, Mount Ayr, Stanton, Murray, and Coon Rapids-Bayard.
Class 1A
Substate 7 Team
Cal Heydon (Coon Rapids-Bayard) Jr., Carter Gruver (Woodbine) Sr., Jackson Ruggles (Mount Ayr) Jr., Gabe Funk (Lenox) Jr., Cal Peterman (Bedford) Sr., Luke Sternberg (AHSTW) Sr., Landon Blum (Woodbine) So., Braedon Godfread (Sidney) Sr.