by Dylan Sanders

It was the first round of districts for the Mustangs on Monday, Feb. 13 at Pleasantville. The Mustangs’ opponent was an improved Heart of Iowa Conference team CMB that they had already beaten twice this season. Make that three, 57-47. Junior Elijah Sperfslage led the team with 16 points.

Head Coach Fred Lorensen said, “Elijah played a nice game for us against CMB.  He made some big shots for us at important times in the game.”

Beating an opponent three different times is during a single season is not an easy feat.

“It is difficult to beat a team three times in a season. You get to where both teams know each other, which kind of neutralizes the advantage that the team with two wins has going in. CMB is much like us in the fact that they are pretty young, so it was a good battle,” Lorensen said.

Other Mustangs who contributed were sophomore Reed Worth with 10, senior Mark Bruxvoort with eight, junior Dayton Boell with seven, and freshman Derek Brown with five. Junior Jackson Thomas had four assists along with four points. Sophomore Andrew Van Ryswyk scored six points and grabbed a game high 14 rebounds.

Winning a district game is always an accomplishment. Especially for a team as young as the Mustangs.

Lorensen said, “It is always good to win, especially in tournament play.  We have a young team this year, so the more we can learn how to win close games, the better.”