There’s been no shortage of illness and injury for the Greene County High School varsity basketball teams. The Rams hosted Saydel (Des Moines) last night in the high school gym in Jefferson on KG98 and streamed on www.raccoonvalleyradio.com. The Rams were without their top two scorers in the girls’ game in senior Becca Anderson and junior Makenna Ebersole, and the boys continue to miss senior Broc Stream, their leading scorer. The Eagles won the girls’ game 46-39 and took the boys’ contest by a 63-44 final.

The Saydel girls won a conference game for the first time this season and are 1-14 in the Heart of Iowa Activities Conference and are 3-15 overall. The Rams are 5-14 and 3-11 in the league. Senior Becca Anderson had a game high 22 points and senior Kaycee Pittman added seven. The Eagles were led by senior Luella Weisphenning and junior Lauren Frantz with 13 each. The Rams trailed the entire night as were behind by as many as many as 11 points. The Rams cut it to 36-34, but the lead expanded to 10 points in the waning moments.

In the boys’ game saw the Eagles lead by 12 in half number one before tying the game at 24-24 with a fe seconds left before intermission. The Eagles lead 26-24 at the half, then expanded the advantage in the third quarter to 51-29 at the end of the stanza. Greene County cut the deficit to 14 points, but could get no closer. Senior Nathan Towers scored 12 points before fouling out late to lead the Rams in scoring and senior Carter Hinote hit a trio of three-point baskets in the second half to finish with nine points. Gage Moreno had 20 and Jacob Oltmans 18 for the Eagles. Saydel is 12-5 overall and 10-5 in the HOIAC while the Rams fell to 2-12 in the conference and 3-15 overall.

The Rams go to State Center vs. West Marshall on Friday in Heart of Iowa Activities Conference play. Coverage on KG98 and streaming on www.raccoonvalleyradio.com starts around 5:45 p.m. with the girls playing at 6 o’clock and the boys to follow.