Mustangs prevail over Eagles in heated 57-49 battle
Comments (...)MONROE — Mix in a bitter rivalry with the fact that one team gave the other one of its two losses in the regular season, and you’ve got a pressure cooker of a second-round playoff game.
That was the case in Monroe Thursday night, where the Prairie City-Monroe boys basketball team was able to avenge a Dec. 8 loss against Pella Christian with a 57-49 victory to send the Eagles packing from the Class 2A district tournament.
“It hurt the first game when we lost, and it felt great to come out and get them back,” said PCM senior Sean O’Connor. “PCM and Pella Christian is always a pretty big rivalry.”
The first quarter was jam-packed with back-and-forth scoring that yielded thundering reactions from either crowd. Pella Christian’s Caleb Morgan hit a late 3-pointer to tie the game at 10-10, but PCM senior Hutch Burns answered right back with a three of his own to put the Mustangs up 13-10 going into the second.
Pella Christian was able to close a 13-point PCM lead to seven points in the second, but a late three-point play from O’Connor put the Mustangs back up by 10 at halftime and threw the momentum back into PCM’s corner.
“That was huge, and you probably noticed that late in the game we really needed those,” PCM coach Fred Lorensen said. “That’s just senior leadership. Those guys have been around playing for a while.”
A 10-point quarter from PCM senior Scott Bruxvoort helped the Mustangs pad their lead to 14 at the end of the third, but Pella Christian would make its move in the fourth. When Bruxvoort and senior Jordan Van Roekel were both sitting on the bench with four fouls as the Eagles made their run, Lorensen rolled the dice and put them back in to help get the team back on track.
“We needed some offense and both (Bruxvoort) and Jordan had four fouls and they were sitting by me,” Lorensen said. “We’re not as good when they’re not playing. If we had kept the lead up where it was, we might have been OK. But if you’re going to go down, go down with your guns blazing.”
Meanwhile, Pella Christian’s Dan Hessing caught fire and hit three treys to close PCM’s lead to just three points with 1:40 to go. Following a made free throw by PCM junior Nate Vande Wall, the Mustangs were able to prevent Hessing from hitting another big shot thanks to come clutch defense by O’Connor.
“That Hessing kid’s a great player, and I just had to rise to the challenge, guard him up pretty good and always keep a hand in his face,” O’Connor said. “When he hit those back-to-back threes I was starting to get nervous, honestly. But we just stayed calm in the huddle and said the next possession needs to be a big stop.”
PCM (20-2)was able to ice the game from the free-throw line after that as Van Roekel and Burns went 4-for-4 from the charity stripe and the student sections started saying their final goodbyes to one another.
Waiting for the Mustangs in the district championship game is Davis County (14-7), which defeated Eddyville-Blakesburg 62-60 Thursday night. The game will be played in Ottumwa on Feb. 21.
PCM 57, Pella Christian 49
Score by quarter
PC — 10 8 13 18 — 49
PCM — 13 15 17 12 — 57
Individual scorers
PC — Morgan 16, Hessing 14, Van Weelden 11, Riggen 4, Van Maanen 2, Ver Meer 2
PCM — Scott Bruxvoort 22, Van Roekel 17, O’Connor 10, Burns 7, Dillon Bruxvoort 2, Vande Wall 1
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