Boys' Basketball: One and Done

Scoreless third dooms Greene Co. in district play

By BRANDON HURLEY

Sports Editor

sports@beeherald.com

GRIMES – Things got out of control in a hurry Monday night. 

It all came to a head in a perfect storm of sorts – a nearly nine minute scoring drought, two technicals, foul trouble and a raucous crowd did the Greene County boys’ basketball team in during district play. 

A four-point halftime deficit ballooned to 19 during a dismal third quarter  as the Rams fell 66-36 to Dallas Center-Grimes in a district three semifinal. 

The Mustangs held the state’s leading-scorer, Trey Tucker (25 ppg) along with the entire Ram offense (69 ppg, third in 3A) in check for most of the night, holding Greene County to their lowest point total of the season. 

DC-G (13-8) ripped off a 17-0 third quarter run, holding Greene County to zero points over the eight minute period, a span which saw the Rams come unglued. Visible frustration, rushed shots and a pair of technicals allowed DC-G to keep their scoring streak alive. 

“I looked at [assistant coach] Chad Morton at the other end of the court and said ‘what happened?’ We had a little bit of a lid on the basket, they made some plays and we didn’t get some of the calls,” Greene County head coach Chris Nelson said. “Mentally, we got a little weak there at the wrong time. We hurt ourselves mentally more than anything.”

Trey Hinote was whistled for a technical for grabbing the rim out of frustration and Tommy Jacobsen was T’d up for reacting to a defensive foul, sending the downward spiral even deeper. The ensuing free throws following Jacobsen’s tech gave DC-G a 45-28 lead, which only continued to grow from there. 

“I don’t think the second half showed at all who we really are, but they were a good team,” Nelson said.  

The misfortune started early Monday. After Lanche Hughes drilled a wing three to give Greene County a 3-0 lead, junior big man Wade Adcock picked up two early fouls, which sent him to the bench with just two minutes gone and the score tied at three. Adcock’s absence left a sizable hole on defense and the Mustangs took advantage, ripping off a 9-0 run. Without the ability to stop penetration and no way to pound it inside when the shots weren’t falling, the Rams found themselves behind early, 14-7. The refs kept the game tight – 14 fouls were called in the first quarter – as Greene County struggled to adjust. 

“It’s tough, obviously. We had to roll the dice and put (Wade) back in early and we got a nice little run out of it,” Nelson said.

Adcock re-entered late in the first and found success with back-to-back post buckets but the Rams still trailed 19-12 at the quarter break. 

Senior Tommy Jacobsen kept the Rams in it in the second, drilling a pair of big three-pointers and picked up a charge call to keep Greene County within striking distance. The wing scored eight second quarter points and helped fuel a 6-0 run to close out the first half. After trailing by 10 midway through the second quarter (27-17), the Rams entered the break down 32-28. 

“I thought Tommy did exactly what we needed him to do. We told him he was going to have a big night and he stepped up confidently and calmly,” Nelson said. “We needed that of him and he’s been that kind of guy, he’s done it all year. We will miss that next year.” 

DC-G’s Trevor Grove, who scored 12 first half points and nailed a pair of the Mustang’s five threes, went to work right out of the gate in the third, slicing through the lane for an easy layup to kick-start their scoring run. The guard finished with a game-high 18 points.

The Mustang defense flustered the Rams in the third quarter which proved to be the difference. Trey Hinote, the third best three-point shooter in all of 3A (68 made threes), couldn’t get off any easy shots and finished the game without a single made basket and just two points. He was constantly double teamed whenever he put the ball on the floor. Tucker was the only Ram to score in double digits with 11 points. 

“That triangle and two gave us fits and I think we missed a few open guys,” Nelson said. “They ran that to frustrate us and it did. We didn’t do as well against it as I thought we would.” 

The Rams still managed to make seven threes in the game, but five came in the first half. As a team, Greene County scored just eight second half points and DC-G took full advantage, outscoring the Heart of Iowa squad, 34-8. The Mustangs led 47-28 after three, not allowing the Rams to score a single point. Adcock finally ended the scoring drought with a pair of free throws 45 seconds into the fourth quarter. 

“We couldn’t ever get any rhythm. It was a good learning experience for all how to become strong-minded,” Nelson said. “We started to have to chase (the lead) and make some changes defensively which led to some easy buckets and made it look worse than it really was.”

The Rams finished the year 14-8 overall and 13-3 in the Herat of Iowa Conference, good for second place. The high-scoring season secured the school their first winning record since Jefferson-Scranton consolidated with East Greene back in 2012.  

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