Greene County holds off PCM; Area Prep Basketball Roundup

It was the final Friday night of regular-season basketball for four area boys' basketball teams. Class 1A fifth-ranked Lynnville-Sully won on the road while Colfax-Mingo lost in South Iowa Cedar League cross-over games. Prairie City-Monroe and Collins-Maxwell/Baxter lost at home in Heart of Iowa Conference play.

Greene County 70, PCM boys 65

MONROE — Prairie City-Monroe's boys basketball team couldn't overcome another big scoring night from Trey Tucker, and some costly turnovers plagued the Mustangs during the deciding second quarter.

PCM led by three after one quarter, but got outscored 17-10 in the second. Greene County never trailed in the second half.

Tucker, the Heart of Iowa Conference's leading scorer at 24 points per game, scored a game-high 31 points for the Rams, who locked up second place in the HOIC after the win. South Hamilton won the conference title following its win over North Polk on Friday.

Junior Jackson Thomas finished with 22 points for PCM, while sophomore Andrew Van Ryswyk chipped in 18 points and 12 rebounds. Sophomore Reed Worth also scored in double-figures with 12 and also had three assists and three rebounds.

The Mustangs grabbed the lead late in the first quarter following a bucket by Thomas and a 3-pointer by junior Elijah Sperfslage.

The Rams (14-6 overall, 13-3 in the HOIC) tied the game early in the second period and then Tucker got going. Greene County's all-time leading scorer put in back-to-back buckets to put the Rams up 28-23. That started a 12-0 run by the visitors. The Mustangs (10-11, 9-7) got the deficit to four at halftime.

Tucker began the second half with a pair of free throws, but PCM got within one following a bucket inside and a 3-pointer by Van Ryswyk. Tucker though began and ended a 10-0 Ram run with 3-pointers, and the Mustangs couldn't get closer than seven until Van Ryswyk connected on a 3-point play to get the deficit to 68-64 with 26 seconds to play.

Tucker scored 10 of his 31 in the third quarter. Thomas had nine of his 22 in the third.

Each team hit 10 3-pointers in the game. Tucker buried six from long range, while Thomas connected on six for PCM. Thomas also had five rebounds and three assists.

PCM begins Class 2A postseason against Collins-Maxwell/Baxter at 6:30 p.m. Monday in Pleasantville.

1A No. 5 Lynnville-Sully boys 54, Keota 50

KEOTA — Junior Jesse Van Wyk was perfect shooting the basketball for Lynnville-Sully Friday night. The Class 1A fifth-ranked Hawks needed him to be as they had a slow start against host Keota in their South Iowa Cedar League cross-over contest.

Van Wyk was 8-of-8 from the field, hitting one 3-pointer, and went 2-of-2 at the free-throw line for a game-high 19 points. He led the Hawks in a 54-50 win in a non-conference game against the Eagles.

“We had a hard time getting it going offensively in the first half. Its never easy to get a win at Keota,” Lynnville-Sully head coach Nick Harthoorn said. “The guys fought back in the second half and made just enough plays.”

The Hawks trailed throughout the first half, down 27-19 at halftime. They outscored the Eagles 19-10 in the third quarter and finished with a 16-13 run in the fourth period.

Van Wyk also had four steals and five rebounds. Junior Brevin Hansen added 11 points and had five assists. Junior Tanner Foster pulled down six rebounds and sophomore Rylan James blocked four shots.

Keota was led by Jacob Wickenkamp with 15 points. JD Stout had 10 points.

The Hawks (20-1) are the top seed in the Class 1A District 11 tournament. They will host a quarterfinal doubleheader on Feb. 16 at Sully. Colfax-Mingo plays BGM at 6:30 p.m. followed by an 8 p.m. contest with Lynnville-Sully playing the winner of a Feb. 13 play-in game between Sigourney and Melcher-Dallas.

Tri-County 57, Colfax-Mingo boys 52

THORNBURG — A poor shooting night doomed the Colfax-Mingo boys basketball team in a loss to Tri-County during a South Iowa Cedar League crossover game.

The Tigerhawks connected on 7-of-14 from long range but made only 13-of-40 inside the arc and couldn't overcome a first-half deficit during a 57-52 loss.

Colfax-Mingo trailed 14-10 after one and fell behind 28-21 at halftime. The Tigerhawks (9-12) rallied to get within four going into the final quarter, but Tri-County (6-15) won the final frame 20-19.

Junior Jarod Nichols had 19 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Tigerhawks, while junior Jonathan Jacobs scored 13 points and dished out three assists. Jacobs was 4-of-6 from 3-point range.

Junior Reegan Van Dyke added 10 points, nine rebounds, three assists and three steals, but the Tigerhawks turned it over 20 times in the loss.

The Tigerhawks begin Class 1A postseason play against BGM at 6:30 p.m. Thursday in Sully.

Nevada 88, CMB boys 58

MAXWELL — Nevada scored 50 points in the first two quarters and never looked back to win its sixth straight game, 88-58.

Sophomore Will Clapper had 22 points and 11 rebounds for his second straight double-double, but Collins-Maxwell/Baxter's boys basketball team trailed by 21 at the break. Clapper hit 9-of-14 from the floor, but the Raiders were only 19-of-48 shooting as a team.

Junior Travis Lindemoen had nine points, senior Jack Cheville scored six points and senior Hunter McWhirter tallied seven rebounds. Freshman Cole Damman dished out four assists.

CMB is now 5-16 overall and 3-13 in the HOIC. Nevada improved to 15-6 overall and 12-4 in the HOIC. The win locked up third place in the conference for the Cubs behind conference champion South Hamilton and runner-up Greene County.

CMB begins Class 2A postseason play against PCM at 6:30 p.m. Monday in Pleasantville.