BOYS' HIGH SCHOOL BBALL: THREE’S A MAGIC NUMBER
By BRANDON HURLEY
Sports Editor
JEFFERSON – Midway through the second half Monday night, it looked as though the Greene County boys’ basketball team would need every one of Trey Hintoe’s record-setting eight threes.
The sophomore lit up the visiting Prairie City-Monroe Mustangs en route to a career-high 26 points, breaking a pair of school records and powering the Rams to 20 straight fourth quarter points for the eventual 80-60 victory. Greene County (11-5 overall, 10-2 in the HOIC) used that scoring run and some stout defense, holding the Mustangs to zero points for seven minutes, to pull away from what was a tight game after three quarters. The victory was the Rams’ fifth straight HOIC win as they host Nevada tonight for senior night.
Hinote’s career-night was also a historic one as he broke the school record for made threes in a game (the old record stood at seven) and swiftly moved past previous Greene County record-holder Landon Braun (53 made threes in 2012-13) for most made threes in a season, putting his season total at 54.
”When you play confidently, it helps. He’s moving well without the ball and he’s setting some good screens,” Greene County head coach Chris Nelson said. “We are hitting him with good passes and he can shoot. He’s holding his follow through and he’s in rhythm.
Hinote and Trey Tucker combined for 52 points and 11 threes Monday night as the Rams further tightened their grip on the top spot in the conference, shaking off a potential collapse for the second straight home game.
“They can shoot it. As I’ve said before, we can score, that’s not going to be a problem,” Nelson said. “I thought Trey Hinote really stepped into his shots well and got his feet set early. Catch and shoot, (that’s) what we talked about. Tucker can fill it up too.”
The Rams held a 13-point lead late in the first half (41-28) but watched it disappear in the third quarter as the Mustangs used a 13-2 run to take a 51-50 lead with two minutes left in the period. The third quarter run was reminiscent of Greene County’s debacle against Winterset Jan. 23 in which they blew a double-digit lead and eventually lost, 88-81, to the Huskies. Defense was a struggle once again in Monday’s back-and-forth third quarter.
But, as was the case all night long, the shooting prowess of Hinote and Tucker allowed the Rams to regain control before the quarter buzzer. Greene County held a 58-53 lead heading into the fourth. Hinote hit his sixth three of the game to give GC a two-point lead while Tucker followed that with a banked-in long ball to give the Rams the five point edge.
Nelson pulled his team together after the buzzer, relieved that his squad had dodged a bullet, but changes needed to be made if they wanted to come out on top. Just pure-shooting wasn’t going to get it done, not Monday night. PCM entered the contest with a 9-6 overall record but 8-3 in the Heart of Iowa Conference, just a game back of Greene County.
“I don’t like to dodge bullets, we like to be the ones firing. They came at us and attacked us,” the coach said. “Physically, I don’t think we responded very well. We shot the ball well tonight and we are going to shoot it well, it’s great that our kids are confident. But we need to get out of that mindset that we will be fine if we keep out-shooting them.”
Hinote’s record-tying seventh three opened a 10-point advantage for Greene County just a minute into the fourth. The sophomore extended the Ram scoring run a few moments later with his record-breaking eighth three, giving Greene County a 70-53 lead. The Rams would later push their scoring onslaught even further, pouring in 20 consecutive points for a 78-53 lead. PCM finally got on the board with under a minute to play in the fourth quarter. When the final buzzer sounded, Greene County had outscored the Mustangs 22-7 in the final stanza.
Hinote had 14 points and four threes at the halftime break as the Rams held onto a 41-33 lead. After falling behind 3-0 from a PCM three by Jackson Thomas, Hinote quickly answered with a three of his own to tie the game. Tucker followed that with a steal near mid-court which he converted into a layup and the Rams were off and running. The Rams took control with a 9-0 jaunt, but PCM charged back to tie it at nine and 11. Once again, Hinote and Tucker fueled a run as the sophomore connected on a wing three followed by another steal and layup from Tucker.
“We got some inside things going. Calvin Skalla played a really good game for us,” Nelson said. “He did some gritty things for us, taking an offensive foul, getting some loose balls and playing good defense. We had a lot of guys do a lot of good things. We just have to be consistent.”
PCM closed to within one at 19-18 before Tucker grabbed another steal and dropped a touch shot through the net at the buzzer to give Greene County a 23-18 lead after one. Hinote powered the Rams with 11 first quarter points and a trio of threes.
The Jefferson-based squad opened the second quarter with another 9-0 outburst to take their first double-digit advantage of the night (28-18). Tucker would later convert on a second chance, straight-away three to extend the Rams’ lead to 13 late in the half. PCM closed on a 5-0 run to enter the locker room trailing by single digits.
Tucker contributed 12 first half points as he and Hinote combined for 26 of the Rams’ 41 points.
The Rams gave up 20 third quarter points but just seven in the fourth quarter, zero points over the final frame’s first seven minutes. Nelson urged his team to buckle down on the defensive end prior to the final stanza.
“We have to get stops and we talked about that in the huddle. In the fourth quarter, it was better,” the coach said. “But we know if we want to do anything special this year, the defense has to keep getting better.”
The Rams did just that sprinting out to a double-digit lead they’d never relinquish. Greene County now sits atop the Heart of Iowa Conference with a 10-2 record, tied with ninth-ranked (2A) South Hamilton. The two squads split the regular season series and would share the conference title if both were to win out. The Rams have four HOIC games remaining starting with their home tilt against Nevada tonight. Greene County squeaked out a 51-46 win Dec. 16 in the season’s first matchup at Nevada.
“We have to take care of it every night, one game at a time,” Nelson said. “It’s in our control and we don’t want to lose that. We need to come out getting after it on defense and we need to get some paint touches on offense. Hopefully, the rest will take care of itself.”
Hinote’s eight threes Monday further cemented his spot atop the conference, as he now has 54 makes, 10 ahead of teammate and senior Trey Tucker, who has made 44 as of Tuesday morning. Hinote’s performance Monday night puts him second in the state behind Spencer Touro, who has made a staggering 67 three-pointers.
Hinote has made 43.8 percent of his three attempts as well and maintains a 15.8 points per game average. The sharp-shooter already has shattered his career high in threes for a season, having made 40 last winter as a freshman. He is approaching 100 career threes in just 37 games, having drained 94 threes.
“A huge thing as a shooter is to get in rhythm,” Nelson said. “I’m sure he will continue to do that but teams will obviously take notice and will force him off the three-point line. He’s capable of hitting pull up jumpers and getting to the free throw line.”
Tucker has also passed last season’s three point total and is shooting them at an incredibly higher rate, pushing his shooting percentage to 44 percent, 13 points higher than last winter.
Tucker shot 31 percent as a junior and sophomore and drained 38 percent from three as a freshman, only once cracking 50 made threes in his career (51) during his rookie campaign. The senior has made 177 total threes in three and a half seasons. He’s just eight threes short of breaking his personal record (44 threes so far) with at least six games remaining as a Ram (five regular season and at least one district game).
Benton Community’s Spencer Touro is putting up Steph Curry-like numbers this season in leading 3A in made threes. He is knocking down four threes per game and making them a 48 percent clip while averaging 18.1 PPG.
As a team, Greene County’s 126 made threes through 16 games are tied for second most in 3A along with Maquoketa and Mount Pleasant, both who have played 17 games. Benton Community leads the state with 156 made threes.
The Rams’ 70 points per game average is third in the state and leads the Heart of Iowa Conference.
CONFERENCE SUPREMACY
Greene Co. avenges early season loss, upsets eighth ranked S. Hamilton
A scorching hot night from the field including a perfect shooting performance from Wade Adcock and sparked the Greene County boys basketball in a statement-setting victory Friday, Jan. 27.
Three Rams scored at least 20 points as Greene County pulled out a 84-78 victory over eighth-ranked (2A) South Hamilton in Jewell. The win slide the Rams into a tie for first in the loss column of the Heart of Iowa Conference.
As a team, Greene County shot 63 percent from the field and got 68 total points from Trey Tucker (25), Adcock (23) and Trey Hinote (20).
Adcock converted on all 11 of his shots while the trio connected on 66 percent of their attempts Friday.
Greene County, (10-5 overall, 9-2 in the HOIC), avenged an early December loss at home to South Hamilton (67-63), a game which the Rams blew a fourth quarter lead.
The two squads played neck-and-neck Friday in Jewell as the HOIC foes shared a lead at 17 after the first quarter and were once again tied at the half, 35-all. Greene County then blew the game open with a 21 points in the third quarter, outscoring the Hawks 21-8 as the Rams took a 56-43 lead. The two teams shot lights out in the fourth and combined for 63 points, but the Rams held on.
The Hawks (14-2 overall, 10-2 in conference) suffered just their second loss of the year, snapping a four-game win streak. South Hamilton star Collin Hill did all he could to will the Hawks to victory, scoring 29 points, putting his two-game average against Greene County this winter at 30 points per game.
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