Roadrunners hand Murray first of three losses last week
It was a tough past week for the Murray boys’ basketball team.
The Mustangs, winners of 10 of their last 11 games entering last week, dropped three games in three days to fall to 10-6 on the season.
The trouble started Thursday night in Truro, with a 77-57 loss to Interstate 35. The Roadrunners broke open a tight game with a 27-12 fourth quarter.
“The game was a lot closer than the final score,” Murray Coach Darin Wookey said. “We just struggled all night defensively. It was a wonder the game was even close.”
Zach Moore led the Roadrunners with 21 points, while Mark Jackson added 18 and Taylor Wiggins had 12. Andrew McKinney and Kyle Freeman added eight points each.
The Mustangs were paced by Austin Halls with his 20 points, eight assists, six rebounds and two steals. Cody Scroggie and Remington Siefkas added 12 points each.
Interstate 35 was back in action Friday night at Corning and dropped a 50-33 decision to the Red Raiders, to fall to 7-7 overall and 6-5 in Pride of Iowa Conference play.
Murray dropped its first Bluegrass Conference game of the season Friday night at home, with a 73-61 loss to Lamoni. The Mustangs are now 5-1 in league play.
The Mustangs jumped out to a 19-8 lead, but it was all but gone by halftime and the Demons outscored Murray 46-31 in the second half.
“Poor shooting after the first quarter was the difference,” Wookey said. “We were hot at the start but just couldn’t hit key shots the rest of the way.”
Halls had 24 points, nine rebounds, eight assists and four steals before fouling out. Siefkas added 14 points and five rebounds, Scroggie scored nine points and Hunter Decker added eight points and seven rebounds. Landon Turner grabbed nine rebounds.
The rough week concluded Saturday night at home, with a 55-50 loss to Orient-Macksburg. It was a tie game entering the fourth, but the Mustangs were outscored 16-11 down the stretch.
“This was the end of a very tough three-game stretch. We competed in all three but just came up a little short,” Wookey said.
Halls had 14 points, five rebounds and seven assists, while Scroggie added 12 points. Siefkas had 10 points and nine rebounds and Eric Hamer added six points and three assists. Scotty Hampton had five points for Murray.
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