Greene County basketball picked up a rare Heart of Iowa Activities Conference basketball sweep Friday night in Des Moines. The Rams were winners over Saydel by scores of 45-23 in the girls’ game and 54-44 in the boys on KG98 and streamed on www.raccoonvalleyradio.com. The sweep was the first this season and was the first on the road since the 2017-18 campaign. Greene County improves to 2-17 overall and 2-11 in girls’ basketball while the boys are 4-14 and 2-10. Saydel’s girls fall to 0-19 and 0-13, and they’ve lost 29 straight games dating back to last season. On the boys’ side, the Eagles are 1-17, and 0-12, and they’ve dropped their last 17 contests.

The Greene County girls broke a 12-12 second quarter tie with a run of 11 straight points to finish the half with a 23-12 lead. The advantage shrunk to 23-20 when the Rams failed to score for the first 8:28 of the second half. However, the girls found the scoreboard often down the stretch to out score Saydel 22-3 in the last quarter and win going away. Senior Izzy Bravard had 15 points, junior Brianna Osterson 13, and sophomore Brianna Habben 10 for Greene County. Osterson had 13 rebounds, Habben had eight boards and eight blocked shots, and Bravard scored 10 of her points in the fourth quarter, all from the foul line, where the Rams were 13 of 16 as a team. Emily Lowe led Saydel with eight points.

After trailing early by scores of 6-2 and 8-5, Greene County went on a run of 11 unanswered points to lead 16-9 after one quarter and were up 28-14 at the half. The Eagles entered the game with just 61 made three point goals, but on Friday night the home team sank five three’s in the third quarter and seven for the game. A 21-point third period barrage brought Saydel within seven points, but they could get no closer. Senior Carter Morton had 26 points for Greene County and no other Ram had more than six. Saydel had 13 points from Kobe Moriarty, all in the third quarter, and 11 from Dakota Ellsworth.

The Rams are right back at it today with a non-conference girl/boy doubleheader at home with Carroll High on KG98 and streamed on www.raccoonvalleyradio.com. Coverage from the middle school gym in Jefferson starts at 4:45 p.m. with the girls starting at 5 p.m. and the boys to follow.