By BRANDON HURLEY
Sports Editor
sports@beeherald.com
The postseason awards have begun to trickle in.
Despite tallying just three Heart of Iowa Conference wins this past winter, the Greene County boys basketball team still left its mark. The Rams were consistently one of the top scoring teams in the league, led by first team, all-conference honoree, Bryce Stalder as well as second team selection, Richard Daugherty.
Stalder led the Heart of Iowa in scoring at 15.4 points per game while he was also fifth in steals with two per. Stalder drilled the eighth-most three pointers with 32 (at a 23.7 percent clip) in addition to his 51 made free throws, which were the second most in the league, only behind PCM’s Andrew Mitchell (63). The junior also tallied an average of 4.1 rebounds per game and 2.4 assists per contest. Stalder poured in a season-high 29 points in a 66-59 win over Woodward-Granger on Jan. 18, securing three steals while draining four three-pointers.
Greene County’s Richard Daugherty was one of the top shooters in the state this past winter. The sophomore was third in the conference with 59 made threes, which tied him for the 12th in the state. Roland-Story’s Sam Skaar led the league with 67 made three-pointers. Daugherty was lethal from beyond the arc, drilling 40.3 percent of his attempts, which ranked him fourth in the HOIC among players with at least 14 attempts (Daugherty hoisted 147 threes this winter). The guard
was also third in the conference in scoring, chipping in a brilliant 14.3 points per outing. Daugherty also tallied 4.2 rebounds per to go with 1.6 steals and 0.6 blocks per contest. He poured in a career-high 31 points in a convincing win over Saydel Jan. 8 thanks to a school record-tying nine three-pointers (9-of-15), the second best shooting output by an HOIC athlete this winter. Roland-Story’s Sam Skaar drilled 11-of-20 three point attempts Jan. 12 against Saydel, fueling his HOIC single-season best 40 points. Daugherty’s 31 points were the third most by a conference athlete this winer.
Fellow teammates Max Riley and Zach Goff each secured honorable mention distinctions as well. Riley was fifth in passing as a junior, averaging 2.9 assists per game while Goff averaged 5.3 rebounds as a senior in addition to 0.6 blocks.
Bryce Stalder, Max Riley, Jackson Morton and Caden Telleen were all also named academic all-conference.
The Rams were 5-15 overall during the 2020-21 slate and 3-7 in league play despite averaging 52.2 points per game. Greene County was knocked from postseason play in a 89-67 loss to Southeast Valley in the opening round of the Class 2A district tournament Feb. 16 in Burnside. Daugherty chipped in a team-best 25 points thanks to a four-of-nine shooting night from three. Stalder added 13 points thanks to a perfect nine-for-nine performance at the charity stripe to go with four rebounds and three assists.