Photo Courtesy of Troy Hyde/Newton News

The PCM basketball teams welcomed South Hamilton to Monroe Friday night and were swept in the Heart of Iowa Conference doubleheader heard live on KNIAKRLS.com. The Mustangs girls squad’s upset bid came up just short in a 53-48 loss while the boys team’s strong second half wasn’t enough to overcome the Hawks in their 62-48 defeat.

Facing a South Hamilton team ranked #11 in Class 2A in a back-and-forth contest, the PCM girls grabbed the early 17-15 advantage at the end of the first quarter. The Hawks responded before halftime, jumping out to a 33-29 lead, before the Mustangs pulled back within two at the end of the third quarter. The two teams traded baskets down the stretch of the final quarter but clutch free throw shooting and rebounding by South Hamilton dashed PCM’s hopes of the upset. Addison Steenhoek was the top scorer for the Mustangs pouring in 21 points, while older sister Paige added 12 points in the loss.

The PCM boys got off to a rocky start, falling behind 16-7 after the opening frame and 31-16 at the intermission. The deficit grew to 50-26 after the third quarter, but the Mustangs remained resilient. PCM continue to try and claw their way back into the game in the final quarter, closing the game on a 22-12 run, but ultimately falling in the contest. Jacob Wendt used a big second half to be the top scorer in the game, recording all 23 of his points after halftime.

The PCM girls fell to 5-7 overall and 3-4 in the conference, and the boys dropped to 3-8 overall and 2-5 in the league. Both teams return to the court Monday in different locations, as the girls host Oskaloosa while the Mustangs’ boys travel to Pella for a game that can be heard live on the KRLS2 stream at KNIAKRLS.com.