Ram varsity girls basketball team now 3-1 in conference

By SUE RIEDER
sports@beeherald.com

After starting out 2-0, Greene County’s girls basketball team had a night they would just like to forget as they lost to Prairie City-Monroe 54-25. The Mustangs used a smothering half and full court press to force forty turnovers and take the Rams out of the game early. Greene County also tried to pressure the ball when PCM was trying to score and forced over twenty turnover themselves, but the Mustangs attempted 19 more shots than the Rams, so it is not surprising that they scored more points. Thea Ballard and Kayla Mobley each had eight points in the game, while Tressa Rasmussen added six, and Abby Bravard and Marissa  Promes each made a free throw. Rasmussen led the team in steals with five. She also had six rebounds. As a team, the Rams made 30 percent of their shots from the field and 50 percent of their free throw attempts. The Mustangs were successful on 47 percent of their shots from the field including four 3-point goals and made 14 of 24 free throws.

“We knew that PCM would pressure us a lot, and we practiced dealing with that type of defense, but it is hard to duplicate their intensity in practice,” said coach Chad Morton. “We didn’t stick with the strategies that we had practiced. We just need to put this game behind us and go on.”

What a difference a few days can make. The same Ram girls basketball team that scored 25 points in the entire game last Friday put up a season high 65 points including 35 in the second quarter alone. Eleven players got minutes and contributed to the scoring. Kayla Mobley led Greene County with 16 points, and Hannah Onken added a season high 14. Onken, and Mobley also led the rebounding efforts with six each, while Marissa Promes grabbed five. As a team the Rams were successful on 47 percent of their shots from the field and  82 percent of their free throws.

“We did a good job of using our press to cause turnovers, and the shots starting falling for us,” said head coach Chad Morton. “Everyone that played worked hard, and it was great to see them all score points.”
 Colfax-Mingo fell to 0-4 for the season. Greene County is now 3-1 in conference play and will host Collins-Maxwell-Baxter in Jefferson on Friday night.

Gr. Co.   4   14   16    25
PCM     14   29   42    54
Gr. Co. (25) Scoring- Kayla Mobley 3 2-3 8, Thea Ballard 3 0-0 8, Tressa Rasmussen 2 1-3 6, Abby Bravard 1 0-0 2, Promes 0 1-2 1. Rebounds- Rasmussen 6, Ballard 3, Promes 3, Mobley 3, Hannah Onken 3, Bravard 2, Stacy Mears 2, Emma Saddoris 1, Emily Christensen 1, Jolee Wessling 1. Steals- Rasmussen 5, Wessling 2. 3-point goals- Ballard 2, Rasmussen 1.
PCM (54) Scoring- Abbi Gilson 3 7-8 14, Rachel Gulling 5 2-5 13, Katie VandeWall 2 4-5 8, Courtney VanHouweling 3 1-2 8, Kayla Jennings 3 0-1 6, Jayci Vos 1 0-0 3, Rachel Stafford 1 0-0 2. Rebounds- Gilson 9, VanHouweling 8, Gulling 5. Steals- Gilson 8, Jennings 4, Gulling 3, Katie VandeWall 3. 3-point goals- VanHouweling 1, Vos 1, Gulling 1, Gilson 1.     

Gr. Co.   14  49   55   65
CM           6  15   27   34
Gr. Co. (65) Scoring- Kayla Mobley 7 1-3 16, Hannah Onken 4 6-6 14, Tressa Rasmussen 2 0-0 6, Abby Bravard 2 2-2 6, Thea Ballard 2 0-0 5, Stacy Mears 2 0-0 4, Emma Saddoris 2 0-0 4, Jolee Wessling 1 1-2 3, Marissa Promes 1 1-2 3, Emily Christensen 0 2-2 2, Allie Stoline 1 0-0 2. Rebounds- Promes 6, Onken 6, Mobley 5. Steals- Ballard 4, Mears 3, Christensen 3.
CM (34) Scoring- MacKenzie Cogley 3 4-4 10, Jenna Teed 2 4-5 9, Alivia  Haley 2 2-3 4, Jade Lewis 1 2-3 4, Dakota Hostetler 1 0-0 2, Breana Schroeder 1 0-0 1.