March 19, 2024

PCM ends regular season with Heart of Iowa win over rival Gilbert

GILBERT — In preparation for the postseason, Prairie City-Monroe girls basketball coach Jeff Lindsay tweaked his offense in Monday’s practice in advance of a Heart of Iowa Conference and regular-season finale Tuesday at Gilbert.

The offensive set emphasized dribble penetration with the hope of finding open shooters on the outside.

For a quarter, the adjustment didn’t appear to make the offense more productive. Once the shots started to fall though, the Mustangs seized control and pulled away for a 56-47 victory.

“We weren’t hitting our open looks early,” Lindsay said. “We were apprehensive at the change at first, but I called timeout and told the girls that we have to be willing to try different things. After that, we moved the ball around as well or better than any game this year and we got on a roll in the fourth.”

PCM trailed 9-6 after one quarter, but led by two at the break after a 16-11 surplus in the second frame.

The host Tigers (12-9 overall, 12-4 in HOIC) closed the gap to one point after three quarters, but the Mustangs pulled away in the final period, outscoring Gilbert 23-15.

Junior Jayci Vos kept the Mustangs afloat in the first half, scoring 10 of her 12 points in the first two quarters. Junior Kayla Jennings took over in the final two quarters, scoring 19 of her 23 points.

Jennings also had four rebounds. Vos finished with a team-high five assists, junior Kaylee Townsend blocked three shots and Lexi Timmins, Katie Vande Wall and Rachel Stafford all had four boards.

Vande Wall dished out four assists, too.

The Mustangs (12-9, 11-5) came into the game shooting a little less than 19 percent from 3-point range.

On Tuesday, PCM buried all five of its shots from outside.

The win for PCM gives the Mustangs a fourth-place finish in the HOIC.

They finished one game back of Gilbert and North Polk, while Nevada won the league title with a perfect 16-0 record.

The Mustangs begin postseason play at 7 p.m. Saturday against Clarke in Monroe.