PCM boys open season with loss to Pella Christian

MONROE — PCM head boys basketball coach Tony Ford figured his latest Mustang squad would go through some growing pains after graduating the top two scorers and the starting point guard from last year’s squad.

Throw in the fact that a fourth starter from last year, Alex Wendt, is currently out with an injury he sustained during football season, and the PCM boys basketball team struggled in its season opener against Pella Christian on Monday.

The Eagles started fast and dominated the glass during a 64-35 non-conference road victory.

“Our scrimmage got cancelled so that stunk,” Ford said. “So this was the first time playing varsity for several guys, and they were too concerned with being perfect instead of just playing basketball.

“We have a system in place, but without our two leading scorers from last year, the guys realized they need to be the ones scoring the basketball now. That’s new for them because it’s a very share heavy group.”

The Eagles tallied their eighth straight win over PCM after grabbing 20 offensive rebounds, swiping 14 steals and making five more 3-pointers than the Mustangs.

PCM never led in the game as Gilbert Flagel converted a three-point play on the Eagles’ first possession. That was the beginning of a big night for Flagel, who finished with a game-high 21 points in the win.

Andy Bellinghausen scored PCM’s first bucket of the season in his first career start, but the Eagles scored the next 12 points to go in front 15-2.

Pella Christian (1-0) led 17-6 after one following Chase Wagaman’s bucket at the buzzer.

Bellinghausen opened the second with a jumper and Wagaman scored inside later to cut the margin to 10.

But the Eagles finished the half on a 10-3 run and led 30-13 at halftime. Flagel scored 19 of his 21 in the first half and scored the Eagles’ final four points in the second.

“We knew he was going to touch the ball a lot.” Ford said about Flagel. “We tried to keep him away from the rim, but he snuck in from behind us after others shot the ball. We just didn’t know where he was at, and we didn’t box out well.

“But that’s partly on the coaching staff because we haven’t done it enough yet in practice because we’re trying to get a bunch of stuff in in the first few weeks. He’s also a really good basketball player.”

The Mustangs’ offense got better in the second half. They scored 11 points in each of the final two frames but never got closer than their halftime margin in the second half.

Pella Christian opened the third on a 9-0 run. Abe Kiernan and Coby DeRaad made their varsity debuts for the Mustangs and they combined for nine of the Mustangs’ 11 points in the third.

Wagaman stopped Pella Christian’s 8-0 run to start the fourth with two free throws. That began PCM’s 7-0 spurt, but the Eagles (1-0) finished the game with a 9-4 run.

“I think Pella Christian is really good,” Ford said, “They play really tight defense, stop the dribble drive well and make it hard to get an entry pass to the post. A lot of what we were trying to do, they just didn’t let us do that.

“We didn’t know how to respond. We didn’t back cut when we should have. They know what to do, but we just haven’t had to do it in a game yet.”

Kiernan led the Mustangs with a career-high 10 points. He scored eight of those 10 in the second half, and Wagaman finished with seven points.

Kevin Thomas pitched in five points, three assists and two steals in his first career start. Gavin Steenhoek totaled four rebounds and two assists, DeRaad tallied three points and two rebounds and Joe Shaver grabbed five boards.

Hayden Shannon corralled a career-best four rebounds, Bryson Karr dished out three assists in his varsity debut and Kash Fischer pulled down two rebounds.

The Mustangs (1-1) shot 35 percent from the floor, made 1-of-10 from 3-point range and connected on 4-of-6 from the free-throw line. They turned the ball over 19 times.

Flagel finished with 21 points, seven rebounds, three assists and three steals to lead the Eagles, while Devan Runner added 11 points and 15 rebounds, seven of which came at the offensive end of the floor.

Notes: Ford said he expects to settle into an eight-player rotation when Wendt is able to return from his injury. They’ll use nine until then and see how it goes from there. … Trey Steinkamp contributed 11 points, seven assists and four steals for the visiting Eagles, who out-rebounded the Mustangs 46-22 and won the game despite shooting only 37 percent from the floor and making only 6-of-25 from 3. … Dylan Beyer and Joey Ferneding also made their varsity debuts for PCM.

PCM 48, West Marshall 37

MONROE — The Trojans answered PCM’s strong first quarter with an almost equally impressive second frame.

But the Mustangs pulled away for good after doubling up their visitors in the third during a 48-37 home win in Heart of Iowa Activities Conference action on Tuesday.

PCM led 12-5 after one but went into halftime with only a two-point lead. A 16-8 surplus in the third allowed the Mustangs to stay in front the rest of the way. PCM (1-0 in the HOIAC) won the fourth 10-9.

It was the Mustangs’ second straight win over West Marshall, and they have claimed 11 of the past 12 in the series.

Shaver led the hosts with 10 points and nine rebounds, but five players scored at least five points in the victory.

Wagaman totaled eight points, seven rebounds, six assists and two steals, Thomas chipped in eight points, two rebounds and three steals and Fischer posted five points, two assists and two steals.

Kiernan tallied five points and three rebounds off the bench, Steenhoek registered five points and two boards and Bellinghausen and Shannon each grabbed four rebounds.

DeRaad grabbed two boards and dished out four assists off the bench, and the Mustangs won the game despite shooting 36.4 percent from the floor.

PCM made 5-of-12 from 3, connected on 3-of-8 from the foul line and turned the ball over 12 times. The Mustangs also swiped 13 steals.

Beckam Desotel led all scorers with 15 points and added nine boards and Teegun Edler had 10 points and nine rebounds for the Trojans.

West Marshall (1-1, 0-1) also got 11 rebounds from Ryder Gile and Connor Kemmerer corralled 10 boards.

The Trojans shot 20 percent from the floor, hit 2-of-17 from 3 and sunk 17-of-30 from the foul line.

West Marshall out-rebounded the Mustangs, 42-36, and grabbed 18 offensive boards. The Trojans also turned the ball over 15 times.