Greene County’s Richard Daugherty (right) puts up a shot during the Rams’ 65-57 loss to Southeast Valley Monday in the opening round of Class 2A district play in Carroll. The junior led GC in scoring with 21 points.  MARK SCHAFER | CARROLL TIMES HERALD

BASKETBALL: Rams bounced from postseason in opening rounds

STAFF REPORT

The Greene County boys basketball team nearly pulled off a shocking turnaround, but ultimately fell short in the first round of district play Monday evening.
The Rams, who lost by 30 a week prior against Southeast Valley,  gave the Jaguars plenty of worry in their second meeting Feb. 14 in Carroll before losing, 65-57 in a Class 2A district game.
The loss ended Greene County’s season at 9-13 overall, finishing the year on an unfortunate five-game skid.

Southeast Valley defeated the Rams 62-32 back on Feb. 7 and looked headed in the same direction after securing a 19-9 lead in the opening frame Saturday. But Greene County battled back, staying with SEV for the remainder of the game, though they were never quite able to overcome the early double-digit deficit.  

The effort was there, Greene County head coach Chris Nelson said on social media after the game, though a few things didn’t fall their way.

“I’m really proud of our guys,” the coach said. “We could have easily packed it in after losing by 30 the first time, but as I have said all season, we have tough guys and they showed it.”
Nelson said the failed comeback was a matter of a few missed open shots and scrappy plays which didn’t go their way.

The Rams shot 37 percent from the field, led by Richard Daugherty’s 21 points (thanks to five-of-11 from three). Greene County had three athletes in double figures, aided by Jesse Miller’s 12 points (two-of-three from deep) and seven rebounds in addition to Bryce Stalder’s 12 points.

Greene County struggled to contain SEV’s dynamic duo of Aaron Graves and Kolson Kruse, who combined to score 51 of the Jaguars 65 points. Graves, a University of Iowa football commit, chipped in a game-high 30 points, 11 rebounds, seven steals and four assists while Kruse tallied 21 points, six rebounds, five assists and four steals.
SEV shot 50 percent from the field, securing 14 steals.

Daugherty finished the year leading Greene County in at 16 points per game, also averaging a team-best 2.3 steals per contest. Miller led the team in rebounding at 6.8 boards per game while Stalder dished out a team-high 3.5 assists per game. As a team, the Rams averaged 56.6 points per contest thanks to a field percentage of 40.7 percent and 140 made threes. Greene County did surrender an average of 60.9 points per game, a negative scoring margin of 4.3.

RAM GIRLS BOW OUT AGAINST SB-L

Fifth-ranked Sergeant-Bluff Luton proved why they are regarded as one of the state’s best over the weekend. The Warriors stifled the Greene County girls’ in a lopsided Class 3A regional opener Saturday, prevailing 63-13 in Sergeant Bluff.

The loss ended Greene County’s season at 3-19 overall.
SB-L shot 48.2 percent from the field led by Emma Salker’s 17 points and six assists. Greene County was led by Regan Tuhn’s six points. Brianna Habben chipped in four points, seven rebounds and three blocks.

The Warriors jumped out to an impressive 30-2 lead in the first quarter, then held Greene County scoreless in the second, securing a 48-2 halftime lead. The 13 total points was the fifth time the Rams were held to 15 points or less this season.
Habben finished her senior year leading the Rams in scoring (9.8ppg), rebounding (10.7rpg), blocks (1.7bpg) and steals (1.7spg).

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