PCM boys edge Norse in overtime

MONROE — PCM’s boys’ basketball team came away with a 10-point win on the road against Roland-Story back in December.

But the Norse were a much different team the second time around.

Roland-Story pushed the Mustangs to overtime on Jan. 15, but senior Andrew Van Ryswyk’s double-double and a solid defensive effort was enough to send PCM to a narrow 57-53 triumph at home during a Heart of Iowa Conference game on Jan. 15.

“They’ve been playing better. They were in it in the fourth quarter with South Hamilton,” Van Ryswyk said. “We needed a win tonight to get our confidence back so just winning is the biggest thing.”

Van Ryswyk finished with 22 points and 14 rebounds, senior Isaac Telfer added 12 points and seven rebounds and sophomore Gatlin Boell grabbed 10 boards off the bench.

The Mustangs overcame a slow start.

They didn’t score in the first four minutes of the game but led 9-6 after one quarter.

The Norse stayed in the game because of a big night from 3-point range.

They buried 13 treys in the game.

Dylan Ihle and Carter Greenfield each had 3-pointers in the second quarter that put the Norse in front by a pair each time.

PCM scored the final six points of the half and led 20-16 at halftime.

Every time the Mustangs (8-6 overall, 7-2 in conference play) grabbed momentum, the Norse (5-8, 3-6) battled back with long-range shots.

Roland-Story scored the first seven points of the second half to go up 23-20, but Van Ryswyk buried one of his five 3-pointers to tie it, and then another trey put the Mustangs up 30-25.

“Teams have been face guarding me a lot lately so it felt good to have a good night offensively,” Van Ryswyk said.

“It’s been tough for Reed (Worth) and I to get open so it was nice to make a couple shots.”

Greenfield came right back with another trey to trim the deficit to two.

Greenfield didn’t play in the first meeting between these two teams but finished with 14 this time around.

Junior Jason Stafford hit a 3-pointer to put PCM back in front by five and then a short jumper by senior Reed Worth gave the Mustangs a 35-28 advantage.

PCM led by five after three quarters.

Van Ryswyk opened the fourth quarter with a 3-pointer and two free throws to extend the lead to 10.

But Ihle hit a trey and a runner in the lane and Greenfield scored five in a row with a pull up jumper and 3-pointer.

Ihle followed Greenfield’s trey with another 3-pointer and that 13-3 run tied the game at 44-all.

Telfer made 1-of-2 from the free-throw line with 45 seconds to play and Worth buried a pair with 8.8 seconds to go.

That gave the Mustangs a three-point lead. With only one team foul called on them, PCM went to foul mode to use up some clock. The two fouls they used got the time down to 3.5 seconds.

On the ensuing play, Roland-Story got a wide-open look from long range by Sam Skaar, and he drained it to send the game to overtime. It was Skaar’s only bucket of the game.

Worth fell down on the play, and that forced PCM to adjust defensively, and Skaar wound up wide open for the tying shot.

PCM coach Fred Lorensen said his team tried to foul again before the game-tying shot, but the officials let it go.

“I wasn’t definitive enough there I guess as far as what we wanted to do. We wanted to foul them because they weren’t in the bonus yet,” Lorensen said.

“Reed fell down so we had to run over to cover his guy and it left the other guy wide open. I thought we fouled the guy before that, but they didn’t call it.”

Telfer was active in the overtime session. He scored the first four points and answered a Dylan Matheason 3-pointer with another bucket inside to keep PCM in front.

Boell then scored his only points of the game when he got loose inside for a basket.

PCM missed the front end of two one-and-ones from the line, but Van Ryswyk finished off the win with a pair of freebies with 18.2 seconds to play.

“We have played a lot of really good teams lately so getting a win is big just in the sense that we need to get some confidence back,” Lorensen said. “Plus, it’s a conference game and if we want to have any thoughts of staying in the conference race, we have to win out.”

Telfer averaged 6.5 points per game through the team’s first 10 games but has scored 17, 21 and 12 in the last three.

“With Andrew and Reed getting so much attention from other teams, I am open more so I am being aggressive,” Telfer said. “I feel more comfortable, the team chemistry is growing and our passes are getting better, too. That creates more open shots.”

Lorensen said Boell played more minutes than usual against Roland-Story because the Norse used a four-guard lineup. Lorensen wanted more quickness on the defensive end of the floor.

“We thought we needed his quickness in there,” Lorensen said. “He got a ton of rebounds and got a big bucket in overtime. He was really intense, which we need him to be.”

Only Van Ryswyk and Telfer scored in double-figures, but Stafford put in eight points, pulled down three rebounds and dished out four assists and Worth scored nine points and handed out four assists.

Junior Derek Brown chipped in four points, grabbed three boards and delivered two assists.

Worth continues to struggle with his outside shot after torching the nets in the first half of the season. Lorensen is confident his leading scorer will come out of it.

“He’s frustrated right now. He’s gotten a lot of really good looks and just hasn’t made them,” Lorensen said. “He was 46 percent from behind the arc before Christmas but is just really struggling right now. He’s way better than what we are seeing. He just has to hang in there. The sooner he starts making shots again, the better it is for us. It can come back as quickly as it went away. He’ll be fine. I am not concerned about it at all.”

Ihle led the Norse with 17 points off the bench. Matheason had 12 points.

The Mustangs played at Saydel on Jan. 22. They travel to Greene County for a 7:30 p.m. game on Jan. 25 in Jefferson.

Pella 74, PCM 61

PELLA — PCM led by seven at halftime but were outscored 29-15 in the third, and Class 3A No. 4 Pella rallied for a 74-61 non-conference home win on Jan. 14.

The Mustangs (7-5) were led by Telfer, who scored a career-high 21 points and tallied four rebounds. Van Ryswyk added 18 points and 10 boards and Brown scored 10 points, dished out five assists and grabbed three rebounds.

Worth was held to five points but he had seven assists, pulled down four rebounds and collected three steals. Stafford chipped in four points, handed out five assists and had three rebounds.

The Mustang starters accounted for 58 of the team’s 61 points. Boell scored the other three points.

Pella senior Ryan Gustafson scored a team-high 20 points and dished out six assists. Junior Logan Shetterly had 17 points, eight rebounds and six assists and senior Nick DeJong tallied 14 points and eight boards.

Pella (11-2) has won nine straight games.

Grand View Christian 87, PCM 55

GILBERT — Van Ryswyk and Worth scored 35 of the Mustangs’ 55 points on Jan. 19, but PCM couldn’t keep up with Class 1A No. 1 Grand View Christian during the Gilbert Showcase.

Worth had 20 points and four rebounds, and Van Ryswyk added 15 points and seven rebounds, but the two-time defending champion Thunder were too much during an 87-55 non-conference win.

Grand View Christian (14-1) led 22-10 after one quarter and then outscored the Mustangs (8-6) 46-29 in the second half.

Sophomore Andrew Mitchell scored a career-high seven points for PCM. Stafford added three points, seven assists and five rebounds, Telfer grabbed six boards and dished out three assists and Brown had three rebounds and two assists.

The Thunder, who has won 12 straight games, was led by Drake recruit and senior Issa Samake, who finished with 19 points, 15 rebounds, five assists and six blocks. Senior Arturo Montes added 16 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. The Thunder made 13 3-pointers.