BOYS BASKETBALL: TREY BALL
By BRANDON HURLEY
Sports Editor
JEFFERSON – At the rate he’s going, if Greene County’s Trey Tucker draws nothing but air on the first free throw attempt every game, he’ll be well on his way to leading the state in scoring.
The senior guard poured in a game-high 33 points following his first quarter mishap at the charity stripe to lead the Rams to a 77-61 victory over Ogden Monday, Nov. 28 in Jefferson.
The 33 points were seven off Tucker’s career high of 40, which he has hit twice in his career, most recently in a double overtime win over Winterset Dec. 21, 2015.
“It’s funny, because I air-balled my first free throw at the jamboree too (Nov. 24 in Creston), so I got crap for it all week,” Tucker said. “I told them there’s no way I’m doing it again.“
By the senior’s standards, the first eight minutes of his final year in a Rams’ uniform were well below average. Not only did he air ball a freebie, but he went the entire period without registering a point, which made his 33 even more remarkable.
The veteran guard missed just a handful of shots the remainder of the game (14-of-22 overall, including four three-pointers) as the Rams pulled away late after a tight first half.
“To (make that) transition, over the years, I’ve become a more mature player and I keep my composure throughout the game (better),” Tucker said. “I can’t let one little thing here or there impact the entire game.
My teammates were setting screens for me, finding me on back door cuts. I have to give credit to them.”
The Rams hosted the 2A Bulldogs in their season-opener and found themselves trailing, 16-14 after the first quarter, with last season’s leading scorer, Tucker, (19.2 PPG) struggling. Ogden ripped off a 9-0 run to take a 16-7 lead which was followed by a 7-0 run by Greene County to end the quarter.
Over the next 24 minutes, the combo guard scored from nearly everywhere. He sprang into the box score thanks to a smooth step-back jumper at the foul line early in the second, and from there, the floodgates opened, so to speak, as Tucker put together a complete performance, pouring in three-pointers and getting to the bucket with ease. Tucker scored 13 in the second frame, eight of Greene County’s 11 during a 11-0 scoring run, as the Rams and Bulldogs entered the halftime break deadlocked at 33.
The senior continued his scoring onslaught in the second half, and received quite a bit of help from fellow senior Tommy Jacobsen (16 points) and sophomore Trey Hinote (12 points), who drained four three pointers. Hinote hit his fourth three in the opening minutes minutes of the third quarter to give the Rams the lead, but the two squads traded advantages with Greene County holding the slight edge, 54-50 heading into the final quarter. Tucker used 10 third quarter points to pace the Rams.
“We know Tucker is going to get his points, he played like a guy that has been playing for four years,” Greene County head coach Chris Nelson said. “Hinote played really well and he’s a guy that’s also experienced. You could tell we lacked a little bit, we were missing Wade on the inside but the guys stepped up and played well tonight.”
A 14-5 run, which spanned the final two frames, gave the Rams a 59-50 lead, one they would never relinquish. The GC advantage ballooned to 73-56 lead thanks to a 12-2 run as Tucker continued to slice to the basket on cuts and fast breaks.
Tucker’s efforts weren’t unaccompanied either, as the Rams drained 10-of-18 three-pointers on the night.
Greene County’s first-year head coach was pleased with the shooting display, but said it’s not something they want to get used to.
“I like making threes but we want to get it inside-out, which we do that,” Nelson said. “I think we did it a decent chunk tonight, it wasn’t really on post entry passes more on drives and kicks. We have the shooters, and if we can set and shoot we will take them. We also want to get our touches in the paint more.“
Jacobsen’s contributions came on seven-of-eight shooting in addition to two blocked shots. Hinote was four-of-seven from long range. Together, the trio of Tucker, Jacobsen and Hinote accounted for 61 of Greene County’s 77 points. Greene County shot 60 percent from the field as a whole.
“It’s wonderful, the more we score as a team the better chance we have to win,” Tucker said. “Our defense wasn’t the greatest tonight but we put up 77 points and got the win.”
Senior Calvin Skalla led the team in assists with six and pulled down six boards while Tucker hauled in a team-high seven rebounds.
Nelson was encouraged to see his guys pull away late in the game despite the lackluster defensive showing.
“It was a little sloppy for three quarters but we buckled down in the fourth and we are looking for four (quarters) now,” the coach said. “We’ve got to build (on this). Obviously, we had a lot of positives but we have to keep working on things, especially defensively. The fourth quarter was really good, we played better defense then we did in spurts.”
The Rams open Heart of Iowa Conference play on the road tonight, as they travel to Collins-Maxwell/Baxter.
CMB was 3-18 a season ago, and 2-14 in conference play. The Raiders averaged just 48 points per game and we swept by Greene County, 83-65 in Jefferson and 45-34 in Baxter. Tucker and Hinote combined for 42 points in the 18 point win at home.
The Rams finished the 2015-16 conference season 9-7, which was good for fourth overall.
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