Rallies halted by Martensdale, ranked Raiderettes fall
By KYLE WILSON
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| CNA photo by KYLE WILSON
Mount Ayr post player Claire Andresen grabs a rebound and takes the ball back up against Martensdale St. Marys Thursday. The Raiders, ranked No. 9 in Class 1A, fell to the top-ranked Blue Devils. |
MOUNT AYR — The Raiderettes student section — dressed in all black, some with smeared black face paint — were standing ready to create some real noise Thursday ... more than once. The No. 8 rated Mount Ayr Raiderettes would make a run against No. 1 Martensdale St. Marys.
The section, the Mount Ayr crowd would build noise.
And a Blue Devil guard would deflate the uproar with a 3-pointer. The Raiderettes made three serious runs at Martensdale Thursday but never came close enough to startle the Blue Devils, losing their first game this winter, 58-42.
"We were able to slow their runs with perimeter shooting," Martensdale Blue Devils coach Jed Alexander said. "We weren't able to get the ball inside. They took that away. But every time we needed a basket, one of our shooters made a shot. This was a big win for us. They're ranked. Undefeated. We were on their home court."
The Raiderettes took away Martensdale's 6-4 junior Mackenzie Morrison, using a sagging zone defense. Mount Ayr doubled Morrison with Tiffany Wimer and Claire Andresen, as well as help from guards.
Still, Morrison reached double digits with 12 points. The Raiderettes were occuupied with Morrison and struggled to find Martensdale's perimeter shooters. Morgan Halverson came off the bench to match Morrison with 12 points. She nailed two 3-pointers in key situations for Martensdale.
"We were going to take the percentages," Mount Ayr coach Thad Streit said. "The farther away you get from the basket, obviously the percentages of them making it go down. They were only shooting 27 percent from 3-point range coming into the game. They shot better than I wanted them too."
Early lead
The Raiderettes held the lead for six minutes in the opening quarter. At one point, leading 7-2 following a 3-point play by WImer. Becca Pennington drained a triple with 1:41 remaining in the first quarter. The Raiderettes led 10-6. But Martensdale converted a 9-2 run in the final minute and change, receiving two buckets from Morrison.
Martensdale kept an 13-point advantage at intermission, 31-18. From there, the Raiderettes came only as close as eight points, that during a third-quarter run. Bailey Myer led Mount Ayr with 14 points, four rebounds and four assists, Pennington had 10 points and four rebounds and Wimer added six.
The Raiderettes, in their first game against a rated opponent, recorded their first loss and now stand at 18-1 overall. The Raiderettes continue play tonight hosting a good Pleasantville team at 6:15 p.m.
MOUNT AYR (42) — Myer 14, Jensen Stewart 4, Pennigton 10, Wimer 6, Molly Budach 2, Claire Andresen 4, Taylor Still 2.
MARTENSDALE (58) — Carrie Wood 9, Brittney Kubik 8, Cori Williamson 7, PJ Estell 3, Mackenzie Morrison 12, Meagan Strerffeller 7, Morgan Halverson 12.
