Basketball Game Preview: Mount Ayr Raiders vs. East Mills

The Mount Ayr Raiders will take on East Mills at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Mount Ayr knows how to get points on the board -- the team has finished with 55 points or more in their past nine games -- so hopefully East Mills likes a good challenge.

Last Monday, Mount Ayr didn't have too much trouble with Lenox as they won 64-50. Given the Raiders' advantage in MaxPreps' Iowa basketball rankings (they are ranked 101st, while the Tigers are ranked 268th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Meanwhile, with a playoff win on the line, East Mills rose to the challenge on Monday. They took their contest with ease, bagging a 61-25 win over the Tigers. East Mills has made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won eight matchups by 21 points or more this season.

East Mills found their leader in sophomore Mason Camden, who went 8-for-17 to rack up 23 points in addition to five boards and three steals. The dominant performance gave Camden a new career-high in rebounds. Another player making a difference was Jackson Embree, who went 5-for-6 en route to 11 points along with six boards and five assists.

East Mills smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 11 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least nine offensive boards in four consecutive games.

East Mills is on a roll lately: they've won 15 of their last 17 contests, which provided a nice bump to their 18-5 record this season. The wins came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 61.2 points over those games. As for Mount Ayr, their victory was their eighth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 20-4.