State-ranked Mustangs cruise past South Tama in regional opener

MONROE — One of these days, all five starters for the Class 3A No. 10 PCM girls basketball team will hit shots on the same day.

But even so, the offense got off to a strong start on Saturday and an 11-0 run to start the game was basically enough during a 56-28 home win over South Tama County in the Class 3A Region 4 opener.

“The start was big for us,” PCM junior Tori Lindsay said. “Sometimes we don’t hit those until the end of the game. We had a little bit of a spot when we weren’t doing much, but got back at it eventually.”

Lindsay led PCM with 22 points in the win. She scored seven of those in the first and Libby Winters put in six of her 14 in the period as the Mustangs led 18-9 after one quarter.

PCM went in front 13-2 at one point, but South Tama ended the frame with a little momentum.

“We came out of the gates great. I really didn’t want to give up nine though,” PCM head girls basketball coach Sami Allison-Rodriguez said. “They had a banked 3, and 18-6 would have felt better. We won every quarter, but I thought we were just a little bit off offensively.”

The Mustangs shot 34.5 percent from the floor. They controlled the second quarter, too, as Winters opened with a bucket inside and Addison Steenhoek hit a pair of free throws before Kyra Naeve dropped a runner in the lane.

Lila Milani’s only bucket of the game was a 3 later and Steenhoek buried a trey to end the half and give her squad a 33-14 advantage.

PCM scored 12 points in the third and seven came from Lindsay. South Tama scored six of the first eight in the period, but Lindsay dropped a 3 and scored twice inside before Steenhoek again ended the quarter with a triple.

The hosts dominated the offensive glass in the second half, which helped counter the tough shooting night. PCM out-rebounded the Trojans 31-25, but 15 of its boards came at the offensive end of the floor.

Winters posted a 14-point, 12-rebound double-double, and she grabbed seven offensive rebounds to lead PCM inside.

“It was really big,” Winters said about the offensive rebounding. “The other team was really aggressive and that made us realize we weren’t that aggressive. Once we locked in, we were able to rebound better.

“I feel the game was slow. We weren’t very connected at first, but it fell together in the end.”

PCM extended its margin in the fourth. The Mustangs (20-3) scored the first eight of the frame as Lindsay made a 3 and scored inside and Winters sunk two free throws. They outscored South Tama 11-6 in the fourth.

“The great thing is we won the game and we get another chance to get better at the offensive end,” Allison-Rodriguez said. “Our defense will keep us in every game, but I just want everyone to be on on the same night offensively just once. When Addison is on, Tori is off. When Tori is on, Libby is off. Kyra took some good shots tonight, but Lila was a little off. I would love to see what our team can do if the girls are hitting on the same night.”

Lindsay added five rebounds, six assists and three steals to her game-high 22 points, while Steenhoek posted 11 points, two rebounds, four assists and five steals.

Naeve filled up the stat sheet with four points, six rebounds, three assists and five steals, Milani had three points and two rebounds and Jorja Teeter grabbed two boards off the bench.

The Mustangs were 8-of-32 from 3, connected on 8-of-12 from the free-throw line and swiped 16 steals. They turned it over 17 times, but South Tama committed 32 turnovers and was only 1-of-10 from 3.

“I think it’s coming and I can’t wait for when it does come,” Lindsay said about all five starters making shots on the same night. “It would be really huge for us if that happens. That would give us a better chance to move on.”

Cahysia Kapayou led the Trojans (2-20) with seven points and three rebounds and Rylee Ridout grabbed nine rebounds.

Notes: This was the first meeting between the two schools since 2018 and the Trojans lead the series 3-2 since 2015. ... The Mustangs host Albia (17-5) in the regional semifinals at 7 p.m. on Wednesday in Monroe. The Lady Dees defeated Davis County, 67-27, in their quarterfinal game. ... Allison-Rodriguez said the coaching staff has been preaching offensive rebounding for the past week. “We don’t do well with that typically, but we have been harping on them for about a week now,” Allison-Rodriguez said. “We just expect everyone to hit every shot, and while I love the confidence, that’s just not what’s happening right now. We need offensive boards. We want them to crash the boards because we know we can catch up on defense if we have to.”