Third quarters doom PCM boys in trio of HOIAC losses

MONROE — After being held to eight points in the second half against Grand View Christian on Tuesday and then being outscored 13-2 in the third quarter during a home game against Perry on Thursday, PCM head boys basketball coach Tony Ford joked about getting the basket at that end of the floor replaced.

Tough shooting nights plagued the Mustangs in both games and they couldn’t recover against the Bluejays during a 61-47 loss in a Heart of Iowa Athletic Conference makeup game.

“Our play usually comes from our shooting,” Ford said. “We definitely live on the 3 ball. When they are falling, things look really good. It motivates our defense to play hard and gets the other team out of sorts, too.”

Unfortunately, the Mustangs shot 3-of-20 from 3-point range against Perry.

PCM led 21-17 after a fast-paced first quarter. But the Bluejays won the second 15-6 and used a 7-2 run at the end of the half to go in front by five at halftime.

Perry outscored the Mustangs 13-2 in the third to put the game away.

“They were not going to let us beat them from the 3-point line,” Ford said. “The shots we were getting were off pump fakes or side steps or putting them up quick. They definitely wanted us to rush.”

Back-to-back buckets inside the lane by Gavin Van Gorp put the Mustangs in front 4-2 early in the first. An 8-2 run that featured six points from Chase Wagaman swelled PCM’s advantage to 12-7.

Wagaman hit two free throws later and Van Gorp scored points off a Perry turnover with another layup. The Mustanags’ lead grew to 21-12 following a 3 from Van Gorp later.

The Bluejays closed the gap to four after one following a 3 and a drive the bucket from Geren Kenney, who finished with a game-high 22 points in the win.

Kenney scored again inside to open the second and it began an 8-0 spurt that pushed the Bluejays’ advantage to 25-21.

Baskets inside by Alex Wendt and Kaleb DeVries tied the score at 25-all before the late run put the visitors into the lead at halftime.

“We do not want to play fast,” Ford said “We fell into their pace. That’s where our turnovers and quick shots happened. We were fine early when we were fresh, but things changed late in the first half.”

The Mustangs couldn’t buy a basket in the third. The other field goal came on a layup by Joe Shaver with 2:26 to play in the period. He got loose on a nifty back cut to the basket, but Perry scored the first 11 of the frame to extend its lead to 43-27. The Bluejays took a 16-point advantage into the fourth.

PCM won the final frame 18-16, but it wasn’t enough. Wagaman led the Mustangs with 16 points and 12 rebounds. Eight of those points came in the first and the final eight were scored in the fourth.

Shaver also put in a career-best 10 points off the bench and six of those came in the fourth.

PCM (8-10, 7-7 in the HOIAC) was plagued by 35.7 percent shooting and 18 turnovers. The Mustangs also were 4-of-16 from the free-throw line.

“We struggled around the rim, and they were making their shots,” Ford said. “That’s the same basket we missed from against Grand View Christian, too. I think we may have to replace the rim at that end.”

Perry scored its first win in the series since Dec. 13, 2022. Kenney added six assists to his 22 points and Owen Myers had 14 points, 10 rebounds and seven steals.

Gustavo Drahos posted 17 points, five boards and seven assists. The Class 3A Bluejays (11-6, 8-5) made nearly half of their shots from the floor and made 4-of-10 from 3 but missed four of their five free throws and turned the ball over 17 times.

“Our defense wasn’t bad. They scored a bunch of points off our quick misses, and they just got behind us too much after we missed,” Ford said. “That’s why we don’t want to take quick shots. They have guys out contesting 3s who also take off the other way. They want to run and play fast.”

Van Gorp scored nine of his 11 points in the first and added three boards. Wendt totaled four points and 11 rebounds, Kash Fischer tallied four points, two rebounds, two blocks and two assists off the bench and Cutler VandeLune grabbed five rebounds, dished out five assists and swiped five steals.

DeVries registered five boards, four assists and two steals. The Mustangs did out-rebound Perry 38-33 and grabbed 18 offensive boards.

Injuries, illnesses and a few other things have kept PCM from finding consistency this season. The Mustangs split their first eight games before losing three straight and then winning four in a row before losing three straight again.

Gavin Steenhoek is currently out and will miss at least two more weeks with an ankle injury. Fisher also missed time with an injured ankle and Wendt just returned from being sidelined with an injury of his own.

“We’ve played a tough schedule, and we’ve dealt with a lot of injuries,” Ford said. “We are playing with guys who we weren’t expecting to play with and haven’t settled into good chemistry either. Every time we play a new team, it’s a different game plan, and it’s hard to get it going sometimes.”

Grand View Christian 73, PCM 43

MONROE — The Mustangs played maybe their best half of the season but couldn’t buy a bucket in the second half during a 73-43 home loss to Grand View Christian on Tuesday.

PCM led by three after one and went into halftime with a two-point advantage but shot just 26 percent from the floor and got out-rebounded 34-24.

The 2A No. 6 Thunder outscored the Mustangs 26-6 in the third and 14-2 in the fourth to pull away in the HOIAC contest.

Van Gorp finished with 15 points to lead PCM, while Wagaman had six points, five rebounds and two steals.

Wendt returned from an injury and produced four points and 11 rebounds. Fischer chipped in eight points and two rebounds, VandeLune totaled five points and two assists, DeVries finished with three points, two rebounds and two steals and Jake Winters delivered two assists.

PCM was 5-of-29 from 3, made 6-of-8 from the foul line and turned the ball over only five times.

Grand View Christian (17-1, 14-0) shot 60 percent from the floor despite making only 2-of-12 from 3. The Thunder were 11-of-12 from the foul line.

Emiliano Barrantes led the visitors with 31 points and 12 rebounds and Brayden Hoben added 23 points, 11 rebounds and five assists.

Nevada 55, PCM 36

NEVADA — Another tough third quarter hindered the Mustangs against Nevada on Friday.

PCM trailed by three at halftime and outscored the Cubs by one point in the fourth, but Nevada pulled away with a huge third frame during a 55-36 home win in HOIAC action.

It was the Cubs’ 12th straight win in the series and PCM fell to 0-7 when scoring fewer than 50 points in a game this season.

VandeLune had nine points and two rebounds, Van Gorp chipped in six points, three boards, two assists and two steals and Wagaman grabbed five boards.

DeVries dished out three assists, Wendt tallied three points, three rebounds and two blocks and Kevin Thomas totaled seven point and two boards off the bench.

PCM’s bench also got seven points and four rebounds from Fisher, six rebounds from Winters and three boards from Brevin DeRaad.

The Mustangs shot 27 percent from the floor, made 7-of-17 from 3 and connected on 7-of-16 from the foul line. PCM turned the ball over 19 times.

Nevada (15-3, 12-1) has won two straight and seven of its last nine games. The Cubs outscored the Mustangs 24-9 in the third.