When it comes right down to it, what wins basketball games is good shooting. Despite a team's emphasis on defense, or rebounding, or fast breaking, it always comes down to who can put the ball in the basket more frequently. That was certainly the case in the Chargers 67-40 loss to a good shooting Mount Ayr team last night in the opening round of district play.

The opening quarter left little doubt as to the Raiders shooting prowess, as they connected on seven of ten attempts including three from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, ACGC could find the bottom of the net on only one occasion in nine tries from the field. Mount Ayr raced to a 17-5 first quarter lead and never looked back. The Chargers first field goal came with 2:48 remaining in the quarter on Lucas Marsh's three ball. But Mount Ayr had already built a 13-1 lead before Marsh's trey.

The problem for the Chargers was that the 18-3 Raiders never cooled off and ACGC could never find any shooting consistency. Oftentimes a team will cool off after a "jack rabbit" start, but that wasn't the case last night. Mount Ayr connected on 26 of its 50 shots for 52% accuracy, including 12 three pointers in 21 tries for a lofty 57%. The Chargers scored twenty four of their points from three point range, but the overall shooting was pretty dismal as statistics show ACGC hitting on just 12 of 48 shots for 25%.

The second quarter was played more evenly, with Mount Ayr outscoring ACGC 17-12, but the deficit the Chargers had to make up by halftime was already seventeen points at 34-17. The Raiders continued its sizzling shooting in the second half, hitting on four additional treys in the third quarter and an additional three in the final frame to close out the game.

The Chargers had two players in double figures, with freshman Miles Kading scoring 11 points including a trio of three pointers. Bryce Littler added 10 points for ACGC. Quynton Younker snared 11 rebounds. Eli Kading, Noah Nelson, Will Byars, and Littler were each credited with two assists. No Charger had more than two steals.

Although the season ended on a sour note, the overall performance of the 2018-19 version of the Chargers is an improvement over the previous two ACGC teams. The six wins in this year's 6-16 campaign equals the total wins in the previous two seasons. The program is on the way up. With many players returning, the expectation for continued improvement next season is realistic and, in this observer's opinion, probable. Go Chargers!

Five seniors have played their final game in a Charger uniform including Will Byars, Spencer Grove, Noah Nelson, Noah Sargent, and Michael Ure. Charger fans thank them for their contributions to the program and wish them well as they move on from high school.

Score by Quarter

ACGC 5 12 13 10--40

Mt Ayr 17 17 18 15--67

Box score REB

FG 3PT FT O-D AST STL TP

EKading 1-3 1-1 0-0 0-1 2 0 3

Sargent 0-8 0-7 0-0 0-1 1 0 0

Nelson 1-7 1-6 0-0 2-2 2 0 3

Marsh 1-5 1-3 0-0 2-1 1 2 3

MKading 4-7 3-4 0-0 1-0 0 0 11

Wierick 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Byars 0-2 0-0 2-4 2-0 2 1 2

Grove 0-0 0-0 0-1 0-1 0 0 0

Littler 2-7 1-3 5-7 1-0 2 0 10

Crawford 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Madsen 0-1 0-0 0-0 1-0 0 0 0

Younker 3-8 1-3 1-2 5-6 0 0 8

Wardyn 0-2 0-1 0-0 0-1 0 0 0

Ure 0-1 0-1 0-0 1-1 0 0 0