March 29, 2024

Balance helps PCM girls blitz Hawks

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MONROE — In the first 17 games, Lexi Timmins reached double-figures in scoring twice.

Her teammates and Prairie City-Monroe girls basketball coach Jeff Lindsay continued to tell the Mustang senior to keep chucking.

Timmins stayed the course and has seemed to find the target from outside. She put in a team-high 13 points off the bench and added seven rebounds and two assists during a 53-21 blowout victory over South Hamilton on Tuesday night.

It was the second straight game in which Timmins has scored 13 points, and she did it this time on Senior Night. PCM honored eight seniors after the game.

“She has been shooting it with a lot of confidence lately, and that’s good,” Lindsay said. “She started the year with a lot of doubt about things, and we just told her she needed to shoot through her slumps.

“We just tell her to keep firing away. We have confidence in her, and we knew sooner or later that the shots would start to fall.”

The game was really never in doubt Tuesday as the Mustangs stayed in second place in the Heart of Iowa Conference at 13-1. It was the seventh straight win for PCM, which improved to 16-3 overall.

South Hamilton (2-16 overall, 1-13 in the HOIC) hit the first shot of the game, but PCM took the lead for good after freshman Regan Freland hit a runner in the lane and then buried a 3-pointer.

PCM closed the quarter on a 12-5 run. Freland scored seven of her nine points in the first quarter. She also dished out a career-high eight assists and totaled four steals.

The Mustangs’ defense was once again the story of the game. PCM held South Hamilton to single-digit point totals in each frame. The Hawks made just four shots from the floor in the loss.

“We did a good job of moving together on the defensive end,” Lindsay said. “We recognized the shooters who have been shooting it well lately. We kept them at bay tonight.”

After leading 24-10 at halftime, PCM pulled even further away from the Hawks with an 18-6 third quarter.

Senior Rachel Stafford scored all four of her points with a 3-point play and another free throw on back-to-back possessions early in the third quarter.

Senior Kayla Jennings came into the game averaging a team-best 12.9 points per game, but she did not score in the first half. Eight of her 10 points came in the lopsided third quarter and then Timmins buried back-to-back treys to give PCM a 38-14 lead.

“Its nice to have that punch coming off the bench,” Lindsay said of Timmins. “She’s found her touch, and it’s coming at a good time.”

The Mustangs led 42-16 after three quarters. Senior Kaylee Townsend scored six of PCM’s 11 points in the final quarter, and the Mustangs went on to win by 32.

PCM won the first meeting over South Hamilton by 40.

Jennings finished with 10 points and four assists, Towsend put in eight points and grabbed four rebounds and senior Katie Vande Wall scored nine points, grabbed seven rebounds, had four steals and dished out three assists.

On Senior Night, 42 of the 53 points and 26 of the 31 rebounds were collected by PCM’s eight seniors.

“This group has done a good job of leading the program during my first few seasons, and they have set a solid foundation for the future for the younger girls in this community,” Lindsay said. “They are kids and great role models for future teams.”

Senior Jayci Vos has missed the entire season due to a quadricep injury. She was cleared to play late last week, and Vos got on the floor for the first time this season late in the fourth quarter Tuesday.

Lindsay is unsure how much Vos would play moving forward, but he was happy to get her on the court on Senior Night with her teammates.

“She was excited to get out there,” Lindsay said. “She was antsy on the bench.”

South Hamilton 7-3-6-5 — 21

PCM 14-10-18-11 — 53

South Hamilton (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP) — Woodall 0-0-1-0, Moss 1/1-1-0-4, Dierson 1-0-4-2, Hodnefield 0-4-1-4, Grubb 1-5-4-7, Spindles 0-0-3-0, Volkmann 0-0-1-0, Tapper 0-2-1-2, Olson 0-0-1-0, Wicks 1-0-1-2. TOTALS 4/1-12-17-21.

PCM (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP) — Freland 4/1-0-0-9, Vande Wall 4-1-2-9, Stafford 1-2-1-4, Jennings 5-0-1-10, Townsend 3/1-1-2-8, Timmins 5/2-1-1-13, Brodersen 0-0-3-0. TOTALS 22/4-5-10-53.