The Roland-Story Norsemen basketball teams returned to action on Tuesday night, as they hosted the Mustangs of Prairie City-Monroe in Heart of Iowa Conference action. The Norsemen girls entered at 5-1 and ranked #14 in Class 3A, while the Roland-Story boys entered at 5-0 and ranked #3 in Class 2A.
The girls game featured a high-energy start, but not a lot of offense to show for it, with Roland-Story trailing 9-8 after one. The Norsemen offense would pick up in the 2nd, as did the Mustang offense, but Roland-Story led 23-21 at the halftime break. The 2nd half saw Roland-Story begin to turn turnovers into points, leading by 9 going into the 4th, but PCM led a final surge that ultimately fell short in Roland-Story’s 57-52 win. The Jewell Market Player of the Game was Roland-Story’s Madi Bauer, who finished with 15 points, including 4 free throws in the final 11 seconds.
Roland-Story’s boys followed, looking to enter Christmas break with an unblemished record. Both teams felt each other for the first quarter, as the battle of 2-3 zones put Roland-Story up 12-7 after one. The Norsemen gained a little more separation in the 2nd quarter, but only held a 25-15 halftime lead. Roland-Story kept their lead throughout the 3rd quarter, but only led 42-33 at the start of the fourth. That was when Isaiah Naylor busted out of his off night, to spark 22-point 4th quarter for Roland-Story, who picked up a 64-39 win. Naylor was named the Jewell Market Player of the Game with 23 points.
Roland-Story returns to action following the Christmas break, when they travel to Iowa Falls-Alden on January 3rd.