Entering Thursday night’s non-conference girl/boy basketball doubleheader in Gowrie vs. Southeast Valley, the Greene County girls hadn’t won a game and the boys hadn’t lost. At the end of the night, the Rams won for the first on the girls’ season and the boys suffered their first loss. The girls’ final was 36-24 while the boys’ game went to overtime with SEV winning by a final of 85-73. Both games were broadcast on KG98 and www.raccoonvalleyradio.com.
The Greene County girls had lost 15 straight dating back to last season prior to Thursday night. Senior Kenna Marquardt scored 11 points with junior Onica Delp adding eight. Five of Delp’s points came in the final quarter when the Rams out scored SEV 6-2. The home team led 7-6 after one quarter, but Greene County had a strong second quarter for a 20-14 lead at intermission. The Rams were up 30-22 going into the last period. Coach Dean Lyons’ squad is 1-5 overall and hosts Saydel (Des Moines) in the middle school gym in Jefferson tonight in the first half of a girl/boy doubleheader.
SEV improved to 4-0 on the boys’ side with the win in OT while the Rams lost for the first time in five games. The Jaguars used an early 10-0 for a 10-2 lead, and the home team was up 18-17 after one quarter. Greene County led 39-32 at halftime, using a 10-0 run of their own. The Rams went up by 10 at 55-45 to end the third period, and with 6:20 left in the game the Jaguars trailed 60-48. From that point on, SEV took command, out scoring the Rams 37-13 the last 10:20 including the four minute overtime. The home team tied the game at 65-65 and had the ball at the end of regulation, but missed a forced three-point shot.
In OT, SEV dominated, putting 20 points on the board to just eight for Greene County. The Jaguars were a perfect 12 for 12 shooting free throws in the extra period, and they went an amazing 22 of 24 overall from the foul line. Senior Dakota Jaeschke had 19 points, junior Kaleb Jondle scored 18 off the bench with just two of those in the first half. Senior Nolan Brand came off the bench to score 13 points and only four of those were in the first two quarters. SEV had a huge 35-5 advantage in bench scoring.
The Rams were led by 25 points from sophomore Trey Hinote, who had no points in the opening quarter. Senior Trey Tucker scored just two first quarter points, but finished with 20. Senior Thomas Jacobsen had 11 and sophomore Lance Hughes added 10 for Coach Chris Nelson’s team. The loss was the first for Nelson, the 2002 Jefferson-Scranton graduate, in his first season heading the Greene County program. The Rams had 16 fewer points from the foul line (6 of 9) than SEV, and they were whistled for 22 fouls, 10 in the first 7:12 of the game.
Greene County hosts winless Saydel tonight in the middle school gym in Jefferson. The girls play at 6 with the boys to follow Coverage on KG98 and www.raccoonvalleyradio.com begins at 5:45 p.m.