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This story appeared in the January 19 edition of the Leon Journal-Reporter.
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The varsity boys were doomed by turnovers in a 76-43 loss to Mount Ayr on Thursday.

The Cards played a competitive, albeit sloppy first quarter.

The Raiders jumped out to a 7-2 lead before Jacob Hayworth hit a 3-pointer from the wing. Bryson Durrow added a bucket after recovering a loose ball.

The Cards then were bitten by the turnover bug, giving up the ball on three straight possessions before Matt Petty stopped the run with a nice crossover to set up a jumper that shrunk the deficit to 13-9 at the 3:00 mark.

In the closing seconds of the quarter, Preston Pederson picked up a nice dish to Colton Toney in the paint. The score stood at 19-15 at the break.

The Cards just couldn’t get anything going in the second quarter, putting up just six points in the period.

Cardinal turnovers and transition defense led to the Raiders extending their lead by 10 points in the quarter. They were able to consistently force mistakes out of the Cards and turn them into points at the other end.

The teams went into halftime with the score at 35-21.

The Cards came out more aggressive on defense in the second half. Mount Ayr was still able to get a bucket early on a perfect no-look pass.

But Bryson Durrow countered with a nifty move of his own at 6:40: coming down the floor on a fast break, he made a spin move to get by his defender and made a bounce pass to Petty, who made the layup and drew the foul. He converted the three point play at the line to make the score 40-24.

The Raiders followed that up with a 9-0 run before Hayworth hit his second 3-pointer of the night on a kickout from Pederson at the 4:00 mark.

The Cards appeared to have a potential momentum-creating play at 2:30, but it was not to be. Myles Hanna blocked two shot attempts, but when the shooter went up for the third time, Hanna committed the foul. The Raiders converted both free throws.

Just moments later, however, Durrow forced a turnover, setting up Pederson’s strong finish at the rim to bring the tally to 51-29. The teams traded baskets to end the third quarter with a 55-31 score.

The fourth quarter brought with it foul trouble for the Cards. In the span of 20 seconds, both Hanna and Petty picked up their fourth personal foul, and had to spend time on the bench.

The Raiders put together a 9-2 run to start the period before Taylor Brown hit a pair of buckets on back-to-back possessions. But the Raiders closed out the game on a 12-4 run over the final four minutes to secure the 76-43 win.

"We played hard but we just couldn't match their offensive firepower.
They are very good. The pace just got too fast for us and we couldn't
keep up,” said coach Zach Clark.

Hanna and Hayworth led the Cards with eight points apiece. Pederson and Toney added six points each, Petty five points, Durrow and Brown four each, and Trevor Greenland added two points.

Hanna led the way on the glass with a game-high 10 rebounds. Pederson and Durrow each had five, Toney and Petty two each, and Justin Mendenhall chipped in one.

Pederson had a game-high four assists for the Cards, while Durrow and Petty each had two, Brown and Hanna one apiece.

The team finished with 27 turnovers on the night.

The Cardinals fall to 3-9 on the year with the loss.