Defense leads PCM boys to win over Montezuma

Jan. 8—MONROE — Gavin Steenhoek and Kaleb DeVries didn't score a single point against Montezuma on Thursday.

But the Mustang guards' effort on the defensive end of the floor against Montezuma's Brady Boulton turned out to be the difference in the game.

Boulton came into the game averaging 25 points per game. And while he put in 20 points in the contest, he only had five at halftime and 13 came in the fourth quarter when the game was essentially already decided.

PCM's defense held Montezuma to 18 points under its season average and Jacob Wendt and Gavin Van Gorp led the offense during the Mustangs' 59-48 non-conference home victory.

"The defense was great," Wendt said. "(Boulton's) averaging 25, which is really good. Holding them under 50 is crazy. Gavin and the guards did well guarding him up top and it was a great team effort. We had solid help defense, and we rotated and talked well, too."

Gavin Van Gorp

The win came on a night when the program recognized and honored long-time head coach Fred Lorensen and his long-time assistant coach Joel Grier at halftime.

It also put the Mustangs back above .500 for the second time this season.

"This is the fruits of their labor," PCM head boys' basketball coach Tony Ford said. "The guys are playing really hard and together and it's turning into wins on the floor."

The game was tight most of the way. The Mustangs led 9-5 on a Van Gorp 3-pointer and the hosts went in front 11-9 after one quarter.

PCM maintained the advantage throughout the second. A 6-0 run that included a Jack Jungling free throw, a Jacob Elrod bucket inside the lane and a Van Gorp trey made it 19-11.

Jacob Wendt's triple pushed it to 22-13 and the Mustangs led 22-17 at halftime.

PCM outscored the Braves 19-9 in the third. They opened the quarter with six straight and a pair of Wendt hook shots in the lane pushed the margin to double digits.

The second one was part of a 9-2 run that ended the frame. Cutler VandeLune's 3, Alex Wendt's layup and Jacob Wendt's jumper also highlighted the spurt.

Jacob Wendt

Jacob Wendt finished with a team-high 19 points and added seven rebounds and five assists.

"We want to give him a paint touch on every possession," Ford said. "We put him right in the middle of the defense and then he does a good job attacking. His turnovers are down and he's strong with the ball. He has a great mid-range jumper and he also sees his teammates well. It makes sense to run through him if they play zone against us."

PCM (6-6) led by 16 after three, and Montezuma never got closer than 10 in the fourth.

Boulton hit three 3-pointers in the frame and the second one trimmed the visitor's margin to 49-39, but PCM got back-to-back buckets inside by Jungling and Van Gorp.

Chase Wagaman and Van Gorp scored consecutive hoops inside the paint a few possessions later to push it back to 15, and the hosts went on to win by 11.

Boulton finished with 20 points, six rebounds and four assists in the loss.

Steenhoek gets the job of defending the other team's best guard every night, but DeVries and the other Mustang guards took their turns, too.

"We usually put (Steenhoek) on their best guard," Ford said. "He made it hard for him to get the ball and made it hard on him when he had the ball. That was the plan."

Kaleb DeVries

Ford and his coaching staff made a few changes at halftime that seemed to catch Montezuma off guard on both ends in the deciding third frame.

"We changed our defense from our press into a man instead of a man into a zone," Ford said. "We also changed some things offensively by putting Jacob on the free-throw line and getting him the ball there."

Jacob Wendt made good decisions with the ball at the high post. The offense has worked better this year when it runs through him.

"When we get the ball in the middle where I'm playing, it helps the offense," Jacob Wendt said. "The defense either collapses on me and I can spread the floor and look for the open guy or if they don't collapse I can try to score. It creates a lot of open opportunities."

Van Gorp chipped in 16 points and two rebounds, Jungling had nine points and four boards and Alex Wendt tallied six points and 10 rebounds off the bench.

Steenhoek finished with seven rebounds, four assists and two steals, while DeVries chipped in eight assists, four boards and three steals.

The Mustangs also got three points and two boards from VandeLune and two rebounds and three assists from Wagaman off the bench.

PCM shot 41.7 percent from the floor despite making only 4-of-21 from 3. The Mustangs were 5-of-11 from the free-throw line, turned the ball over nine times and out-rebounded Montezuma 37-22.

Garrett Watts carried the Braves (8-3) in the first half, scoring 12 of his 19 points. He also had six rebounds.

Montezuma was 7-of-26 from 3 and 3-of-4 from the foul line. The visitors shot 41 percent from the floor and turned the ball over 12 times.

Notes: Lorensen and Grier were given plaques from the school district for more than three decades of service to the community's basketball program. ... There was a moment of silence for Perry High School before the girls' game. There was a mass shooting at the Mustangs' conference rival's campus on Thursday morning. ... The Braves came into the game averaging 66 points per game and outscoring their opponents by an average margin of 13.3 points per contest. ... PCM improved to 2-3 against the Braves since Jan. 30, 2020. ... Steenhoek and Boulton both wore protective face gear in the game. Steenhoek broke his nose against Knoxville earlier this season.

Gavin Steenhoek

Nevada 63, PCM 41

NEVADA — All 15 Mustangs saw action against Nevada on Friday night, but a tough shooting night and 24 turnovers led to a 63-41 road loss during Heart of Iowa Athletic Conference action.

PCM trailed 14-7 after one and was outscored 16-7 in the second and 21-8 in the third. The Mustangs won the fourth 19-12.

No Mustang scored in double-figures but seven players had at least three points in the loss.

DeVries led PCM with seven points and six rebounds, Jacob Wendt tallied three points, seven boards and two assists and Van Gorp tallied five points and two rebounds. Jungling grabbed three boards and Steenhoek had two boards and two assists.

The rest of the production came from PCM's reserves. Easton Webb scored a career-high seven points and dished out two assists, Gavin DeRaad put in a career-best five points and grabbed two rebounds and Mark Bussan added four points and two boards.

Alex Wendt pulled down four rebounds and blocked two shots, Pete Kiernen scored three points, Jake Winters grabbed three boards and VandeLune and Shay Burns each had two steals.

The Mustangs (3-4 in the HOIAC) shot 38 percent from the floor, made 4-of-17 from 3 and missed 11 of their 16 shots from the foul line.

Nevada improved to 9-1 and 6-1 in conference play.

Fred Lorensen Joel Grier