April 26, 2024

Mustang boys rally past 3A Fairfield

By Troy Hyde

Prairie City-Monroe junior Luke Greiner tallied 24 points and grabbed five rebounds in the Mustangs’ 55-48 win over Fairfield on Thursday night in Monroe. (Troy Hyde)

MONROE — The Prairie City-Monroe boys’ basketball team faced another first-quarter deficit Thursday night during a matchup against Class 3A Fairfield.

But like so many other times this season, the Mustangs found a way to rally. PCM trailed 19-9 after one quarter but outscored the Trojans in every other quarter the rest of the way during a 55-48 home victory.

The Mustangs (10-5) outscored Fairfield 14-10 in the second quarter, but put the game away with a 32-19 surplus in the final two frames.

Luke Greiner led the Mustangs with 24 points and five rebounds. Greiner was 7-of-9 from the free-throw line. Logan Gilman added 16 points and four rebounds and he was 8-of-11 from line. PCM made 17-of-22 from the charity stripe on the night.

Andrew Van Ryswyk scored six points, grabbed six rebounds and delivered three assists, while Mark Bruxvoort also had six points in the win. Sheldon Speers pulled down five boards, too.

Carson Crile scored 22 points for the Trojans (5-9) in the loss.

GIRLS

Fairfield 59, PCM 40

Fairfield pulled away from a competitive game with a 22-6 advantage in the fourth quarter. The game was tied at 15 after one, and PCM led by one at halftime. The 4A Trojans, though, outscored the Mustangs 32-12 in the second half.

“They pressed the entire game and it wore us down in the fourth quarter,” PCM coach Jeff Lindsay said. “Our decision making was not very good. It got to us.”

Katie Vande Wall had 11 points at halftime but finished with 13 in the game and also grabbed eight rebounds and two steals to lead PCM (9-7). Rachel Stafford scored eight points and six rebounds, while Kayla Jennings put in eight points and had five steals.

Jayci Vos scored five points, dished out three assists and had two steals in the loss.

“We came out of the gate well,” Lindsay said. “They are a good team. We played with them for three quarters and that showed the girls that we can compete with teams like this.”

Fairfield won its fourth straight game and improved to 11-5 on the season.

PCM hosts Collins-Maxwell/Baxter for a Heart of Iowa Conference doubleheader on Tuesday. The varsity girls game begins at 6 p.m.