The PCM girls and boys basketball teams each lost in close contests to South Hamilton Friday night in a Heart of Iowa Conference varsity doubleheader heard live on the KRLS3 stream. 

The Mustang girls trailed 20-15 at the end of the first quarter but then went into the locker room at halftime just trailing by two points to the Hawks. The Hawks outscored the Mustangs 16-13 in the third quarter and in the fourth quarter the effort from PCM wasn’t quite enough as they fell 59-55 in a thrilling final few minutes. The loss drops the Mustang girls to 13-6 overall and 9-4 in the conference. The PCM girls were led in scoring by junior Addison Steenhoek who had 25 points. PCM coach Sami Allison-Rodriguez says despite the slow start, she is proud of her team’s effort.

“I thought we were just a little slow out of the gate. Giving up 20 in the first quarter just kind of got us a little bit of a step behind. I felt like the second, third, and fourth quarter we got it locked in a little bit. We ended up giving up 59 so 39 points the rest of the game. It’s not a lack of effort we just weren’t quite locked in to start the game and we will have to learn from that. We are still young, and learning so I’m just super proud of our kids’ efforts tonight.”

The PCM boys went into half trailing 29-24 but hung in with the Hawks all game ending the third quarter just trailing by two points. After a few missed opportunities in the fourth quarter and some free throw struggles the Mustangs ultimately dropped the thriller 55-49 in a hard fought battle that didn’t slip away until the last two minutes. The loss drops the PCM boys to 9-10 overall and 6-7 in the conference. The Mustangs were led in scoring by junior Gavin Van Gorp who had 14 points. PCM boys coach Tony Ford said he was proud of how his team battled.

“I couldn’t be more proud of them to be honest with you. The guys just really battled all four quarters. We just had a couple of easy baskets that we gave to them that they got down the floor and countered us when we made good things happen. I’m just really proud of the guy’s effort. It was a great game.”

The PCM girls and boys basketball teams will be back in action on Tuesday when they host Nevada in another conference doubleheader.