Mount Ayr defense leads to semifinal berth

LEON – Mount Ayr’s defense propelled the Raiderettes to the Class 2A Region 5 semifinals behind a 40-28 win over Central Decatur Tuesday.

In a low-scoring affair, Mount Ayr’s ability to keep the Cardinals off the board propelled the Raiderettes after a slow start.

“Our defense won this game for us,” Mount Ayr head coach Thad Streit said. “In the second half (Central Decatur) had six points. (Central Decatur) scored two points in the third quarter. Our defense was phenomenal in the second half.”

A change to a zone defense in the second half held Central Decatur to two points in the third quarter and four points in the fourth quarter.

In the six Central Decatur points, one score came under the rim off an offensive rebound and another was a corner three from Mara Dykes at 4:51 in the fourth quarter off an inbound play.

Central Decatur head coach Frank Howell said Mount Ayr’s defense did a good job closing out defensively, but the Cardinals had an off night shooting and weren’t able to swing the momentum with any big shots.

As the Raiderette defense forced Central Decatur to take long shots or used its size advantage over the Cardinals down low, the offense was able to go on a 9-3 run until the one-minute mark in the fourth quarter with six points coming from the free-throw line.

After a 4-for-9 start from the free-throw line in the first half, Mount Ayr finished 15-for-23, 65.2%.

Maddie Stewart knocked down all four of her attempts in a six-point scoring night, and Rachel Sobotka hit 4 of 5 with eight points. Stewart also led in rebounds and steals with six and three, respectively.

A turnaround from the first half, Streit said he isn’t sure where the offensive output came from, but the defensive momentum may have swung, forcing the girls to say “we aren’t losing this thing.”

“Central Decatur’s defense has been really good, but in the second half we kind of got in a little groove,” Streit said. “Got something going and a little bit of penetration, and we got some points and got that lead.”

Mount Ayr moves on to face AHSTW in the semifinals of Class 2A Region 8 on the road Thursday at 7 p.m.

Sluggish offense

To start the game, both teams limped through the first eight minutes with Mount Ayr holding a 12-9 lead.

Mount Ayr forced the ball down low, switching things up from the previous matchup with the Cardinals.

“We changed out our offense. Who does that three days before Regionals start?” Streit said. “But it worked. We were sharing the ball in practice and just had better movement. We looked great in practice the last few days. It didn’t turn out that way in the game (Tuesday), but we were patient and looking for high-percentage shots.”

Coming out of three days of solid practice, the Raiderettes’ offense ran through Alexa Anderson and Channler Henle before solidifying the newfound style in the second half.

Central Decatur, a team that put up 364 3-pointers entering Tuesday, hit three 3-pointers in the first half and one in the second half.

Mount Ayr 40, Central Decatur 28

MOUNT AYR (40) — (FG FT PTS) Totals — 12 15-23 40. Channler Henle 3 3-4 9, Rachel Sobotka 2 4-5 8, Maddie Stewart 1 4-4 6, MaKayla Jones 1 2-4 5, Alexa Anderson 2 1-2 5, Tegan Streit 2 1-3 5, Hope Whittington 1 0-0 2. 3-point goals — 1 (Jones). Team fouls — 20. Fouled out — None.

CENTRAL DECATUR (28) — (FG FT PTS) Totals — 8 8-21 28. Lauren Martin 3 0-0 7, Eily Hall 1 4-6 4, Mara Dykes 2 0-1 5, Kylee Rockhold 1 1-4 4, Annika Evertsen 1 0-0 3, Hallee Hamilton 0 2-4 2, Lyndsey Dale 0 1-6 1. 3-point goals — 4 (Martin 1, Rockhold 1, Evertsen 1, Dykes). Team fouls — 23. Fouled out — Dykes.