Riah Nelsen drives past a CMB defender in Greene County’s 64-46 loss on December 13.             Nelsen was the team’s leading rebounder and also one of the Rams’ top scorers in the game.

Ram varsity boys waiting for a second win

By SUE RIEDER
sports@beeherald.com

The Greene County boys basketball team lost conference games to CMB and South Hamilton this past week.  On December 13, they lost at home to Collin-Maxwell/ Baxter 64-46. The Raiders took an early 17-10 lead and were up 37-20 by half time. The Rams played better defense and only scored one less point than CMB in the second half, but the Raider’s first half lead was too big to overcome. Greene County shot 36 percent from the field and 44 percent from the free throw line. The Raiders shot 51 percent from the field including 6 for 11 from the 3-point range. The opponents also made 12 of their 15 free throw attempts.

“Our plan at the beginning of the game was to try to control the inside and take our chances on the perimeter, but they were hitting their outside shots in the first half, said coach Jeramie Hinote. “We also tried to go right at their better players and get them to foul. They did that, but then we didn’t respond by hitting enough of our free throws.”

Nine players scored for Greene County with Riah Nelsen, Trey Tucker, and Mitchell Gorsuch leading the team by all chipping in eight points. Nelsen was also the team’s leading rebounder with five. “We have to learn to play a full 32 minutes. We played good defense the second half, but we have to make good decisions when we have the ball. We would work so hard to get a steal and then make a poor decision as to what to do with it,” said coach Hinote.

On December 17, the Rams traveled to Jewell to meet South Hamilton and lost 71-50. The Hawks list eight seniors on their roster and have six players that are 6’ 3” or taller. The only way that Greene County had a chance to stay in the game was if they could hit a lot of perimeter shots, and force the Hawks to come out of the paint to guard them. Unfortunately the Rams were 4-19 in three point goals, so South Hamilton could camp out in the lane and attempt to block any attempts at short range shots.  The South Hamilton players didn’t have to block that many shots, as they were tall enough to cause Ram players to alter their shots to get them over their outstretched arms. Greene County improved their ball movement and stayed with the Hawks throughout most of the first quarter, but then the home team went on a 13-0 run. The Rams managed to get within nine at the half, but then were out scored 17-9 in the third and 19-15 in the final period. As a team, the Rams were successful on 36 percent of their shots from the field compared with 52 percent for the Hawks. Both teams were frustrated by the 35 fouls called, but the Rams did make 60 percent of their free throw attempts. Trey Tucker led Greene County in scoring with 11 points. Tyler Beger and Sico Boateng added nine points each.

“South Hamilton’s size gave them quite an advantage in this game. We drove the ball inside, but couldn’t finish the shots,” said head coach Jeramie Hinote. “I thought Tyler Beger and Sico Boateng really played well. I think we will match up a little better with our next opponent. Nevada doesn’t have a lot of size either.”

Gr. Co.   10   20   31   46
CMB      17   37  47   64     
Gr. Co. (46) Scoring- Trey Tucker 3 1-4 8, Riah Nelsen 2 4-7 8, Mitchell Gorsuch 3 0-0 8, Tyler Beger 2 0-0 6, Landon Braun 2 0-0 5, Sico Boateng 0 3-4 3, Reid Lamoureux 1 0-0 2, Will Meinecke 1 0-0 2. Rebounds- Nelsen 5, Max Neese 2, Boateng 2. Steals- Meinecke 3, Tucker 2, Gorsuch 2, Boateng 2. Assists- Tucker 3, Braun 2. 3-point goals- Beger 2, Gorsuch 2, Braun 1, Tucker 1.
CMB (64) Scoring- Seth Balke 6 5-6 20, Zach Samson 6 1-1 13, Tommy Galloway 5 0-0 12, Bryce Kemp 4 2-3 10, Austin Moorman 2 1-2 6, Patrick Girard 0 2-2 2, Brady Stover 0 1-1 1. Rebounds- Samson 12, Balke 8, Kemp 6. Assists- Moorman 4, Galloway 3. 3-pt. goals- Balke 3, Galloway 2, Moorman 1.

Gr. Co.  11   26   35   50
SH        15   35    52   71
Gr. Co. (50) Scoring- Trey Tucker 5 1-1 11, Tyler Beger 3 0-0 9, Sico Boateng 2 5-6 9,  Reid Lamoureux 3 0-0 6, Will Meinecke 2 0-0 5, Riah Nelsen 2 0-1 4, Mitchell Gorsuch 2 0-0 4, Wesley Tipton 1 0-0 2. Rebounds- Nelsen 9, Boateng 3. Steals- Beger 3, Nelsen 2. 3-point goals- Beger 3, Meinecke 1.
SH (71) Scoring- Matt Hislop 9 1-1 21, Trevor Ullestad 4 0-0 11, Zach Zoske 3 5-8 11, Andrew Wintermote 3 3-4 9, Collin Hill 3 1-2 8. Ross Enderton 2 0-0 5, Zach Puls 1 2-2 4, Nathan Mc Sparin 1 0-0 2.

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