The first basketball games of 2015 for the Greene County teams resulted in road losses in Story City to Roland-Story on Friday night. The Norsemen won the girls’ game 54-48, then took the boys’ contest by a 73-62 final. R-S improved to 5-4 overall and 4-4 in the girls’ conference standings while Coach Chad Morton’s girls fell to 4-5 overall and 4-4 in the conference. The R-S boys are now 7-1 overall and 6-1 in the conference while Coach Jeramie Hinote’s Rams are 4-4 overall and 4-3 in the HOIAC.
R-S senior Brittany Hammes entered Friday’s game with a scoring average of 5.6 points, but she put up 17 against the Rams, including a trio of three-point field goals. R-S made nine three-pointers on the night.
Greene’s County’s top two scorers, seniors Kayla Mobley and Stacy Mears, were both held scoreless in the first half, but the Rams were still in the game at intermission, trailing 28-24. Mobley finished with eight points and Mears had six. Seniors Hannah Onken and Marissa Promes each had 10 points to lead the Rams in scoring.
The R-S boys used a 13-0 run late in the second quarter and early in the third to overcome a 30-26 deficit. The game was tied 30-30 at the half, but the Rams went the last 1:26 of the second quarter and the first 3:11 of the third with no points, which proved to be the difference in the game. John Barclay scored 22 points for the Norsemen, which is 12 more than his average. Seniors Adam Shorkey and Jerald Fritz had 14 and 12, respectively, and junior Tyler Hovick added 10 points. If junior Colin Greene would have scored one more point, the Norsemen would have had five players reach double figures.
Ram sophomore Trey Tucker entered the night leading all of Class 3A in scoring at 27 points per contest, but he had just 10 points, eight in the first half. Senior Landon Braun made six goals from three-point range and finished with 20 points. Senior Riah Nelsen had 11 points and junior Tyler Beger added nine of a trio of three’s.
The Greene County teams remain on the road tonight as they travel to Gowrie to face Southeast Valley in non-conference play. Coverage on KG98 begins at 5:45 p.m. with the girls’ game at 6 p.m. and the boys to follow.