by Gunnar Davis

Traveling to Oskaloosa for a playoff game to go to sub-state, the PCM Mustangs boys’ basketball team was ready for a fight against the Eagles of Pella Christian on Feb. 24. The Eagles eliminated the Mustangs from the playoffs the past two seasons, and PCM was ready for revenge. Unfortunately, they came up short, losing 60-49.
The Eagles started off hot early, with the score at 10-0 before PCM Head Coach Fred Lorensen called a timeout to calm his team down. After the timeout, junior Logan Gilman hit a three on the next possession to score the first points for the Mustangs. Eventually the Mustangs came back and tied the game up at 24, making the game look promising going into halftime.
In the third quarter, the game continued back and forth until late in the period when the Eagles got it going offensively, driving and finding open shooters who knocked down shots, while the Mustangs went through a dry spell on offense. PCM tried to battle back and even got to within four with a few minutes left, but missed shots and made Eagle free throws put the game out of reach.
“It’s always tough when you lose, especially a tournament game, because of the finality of it,” Lorensen said. “We really put ourselves in a hole in both halves by getting behind early. I was really proud of our kids for battling back the way they did. We certainly put ourselves in a position where we could have won the game.”
Senior Trey Lindsay had 12 points and six rebounds. Gilman led with 13 points. Senior Ricky Reeve added in eight points. Seniors Chase Keuning and Tyler Townsend each had six points.
Even though they fell short of their goal of the State tournament, the Mustangs still had a successful year, going 18-5 and earning the title of co-conference champions with Gilbert.
“I thought we had a really good season,” Lorensen said. “We had so many kids playing new and expanded roles from what they had last year. That really makes things difficult. And then, after a 1-2 start, our kids came back to tie a really good Gilbert team for the conference championship and end up with an 18-5 overall record.”
Lorensen added that really good teams have good shooters and that he hopes his underclassmen will get in the gym and shoot in the off-season.