Mustangs fall in District final thriller

PAST THE DEFENSE: Murray’s Austin Halls drives past Southeast Warren defender Evan Shurman during a District semifinal contest Feb. 23 in Murray. The Mustangs won the game, 73-65, as Halls scored a team-high 35 points. (S-T photo by Matt Pfiffner)

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The biggest play in Thursday night’s Class 1A District Final contest in Truro was a foul that neither team wanted at the time it was called, but one that was gladly accepted by Mount Ayr.

The Raiders held a slim 61-58 lead over Murray with six seconds left in the game, when Mustang freshman Cody Scroggie nailed a 3-pointer at the top of the arc to apparently tie the game.

But the Raiders were whistled for a foul right before the shot when Murray screen-setter Landon Turner was run over. Turner missed the front end of the one-and-one and Mount Ayr’s David Showalter knocked down a pair of free throws after grabbing the rebound, to seal the 63-58 victory.

“That’s just part of the game,” Murray coach Darin Wookey said of the foul call before Scroggie’s 3-pointer.

Murray finished the season with a 16-7 record.

The Raiders obviously didn’t want the foul in that situation, but it worked out for the best.
“I heard the whistle and play stopped and I got nervous,” Showalter said. “But they called the foul.”

Showalter made his two free throws after watching his teammates go 2-for-7 in the final minute of the game, keeping the Mustangs in the game. How much pressure was on Showalter as he stepped to the line?

“Quite a bit,” he admitted. “No one else was making them, but they missed some shots too at the end.”

The Raiders lost Saturday night at West Des Moines Valley High School against Ankeny Christian Academy (24-1) in the game to decide the State qualifier.

The Raiders led the Mustangs 12-6 at the end of the first quarter and by 10 with two minutes left in the half. It appeared Mount Ayr was set to run away like they did in early December in a 19-point victory over Murray.

But the Mustangs outscored the Raiders 11-2 in the final two minutes, to make it a 27-26 Mount Ayr lead at the break. Murray freshman Austin Halls scored eight points during that stretch and assisted on a Scroggie layup.

“Scroggie and Halls are outstanding freshmen and they’ll hurt some teams in the years to come,” Showalter said.

The second half was played at a much faster pace, as both teams settled in. The Mustangs tied the game a minute into the half, but Mount Ayr quickly went back up by six when Malcom Mercer hit a basket and sandwiched a 3-pointer and 3-point play in between an Eric Hamer bucket for the Mustangs.

Halls drove to the basket for a pair of layups and converted on a pair of free throws to tie the game again at 37-37.

“We’ve seen team after team try to stop his penetration and there haven’t been too many able to do it,” Wookey said.

The game was tied on three more occasions in the third quarter, but Mount Ayr took a 45-43 lead into the final period after a late bucket from Braydee Poore.

Poore started the fourth with another basket for a four-point Raider lead. The Mustangs got to within two several times in the fourth, but trailed 57-53 with 2:10 left when Colton Bolles hit a beautiful reverse layup.

Moments later, Hamer came up big for the Mustangs when he banked in a 3-pointer, to make it a 57-56 game. But that would be the last basket for the Mustangs and Mount Ayr did just enough from the free throw line down the stretch to earn the District championship.

Mount Ayr never gave up the lead in the game, something that didn’t go unnoticed by Wookey.

“We would get the momentum and it was back and forth,” he said. “We could never get the lead and I think if we did, we could have turned the game in our favor. But the kids played well. We made it a game this time.”

The Raiders expected nothing less, despite winning by 19 in the opening game of the year for both teams.

“They were young then. They play a lot bigger than they are and play with a lot of heart,” Showalter said. “We weren’t expecting a piece of cake.”

Halls closed out an excellent freshman campaign with 25 points to pace the Mustangs. He also had 11 rebounds and eight assists. Turner added 10 points and six rebounds, Scroggie had nine points and four assists, Hamer added seven points and five rebounds and Remington Siefkas finished with seven rebounds and five points.

Mercer led the Raiders with 12 points before fouling out midway through the third quarter after picking up a technical foul. Dusty Lyden and Matt Sobotka added 10 points each, while Showalter had nine and Bolles added eight. Poore finished with seven points.