Monroe Basketball earns sweep over Nome

The Monroe Catholic Basketball teams hosted the Nome-Beltz Nanooks in a non-conference double-header last night.

The Rams earned a sweep, starting with the girls game where they were victorious in a 61-47 effort.

Nome held a 20-18 lead after the first half, but the Rams responded with 20 points in the third quarter and 23 in the fourth, all while holding their opponents to 11 and 16 in the last two quarters to secure their win.

Grace Hodges and Katie Bast put the team on their backs, Hodges leading the team with 27 points and Bast right behind her with 25.

This is the second consecutive game with over 20 points for Bast, a freshman who has had a standout year for the Rams.

We talked with her after the game about what was clicking offensively in this contest.

"It was good. Nome came out really strong and we just fought really hard and played well as a team. We played really hard and I got a lot of good passes from my teammates. Yeah, we played really well together," said Bast.

As you can see from that interview, the boy's game tipped off immediately after the girls game came to a close.

The Rams finished the sweep with a 53-34 win.

This one started off hot for the Rams with a 16-2 run in the first quarter.

The next quarter was much closer, with the Rams outscoring the Nooks 8-7.

They re-asserted themselves with a 20-10 effort in the third to help secure the victory.

Four different players earned double-digits for the Rams, but Quinn McHenry led the way with 14 points.

Isaac Garcia and Gabe Silas both dropped 11 while Izak Lohrke finished with 10.

Gareth Hansen led the Nanooks with 15 points.

Monroe will now be competing in the Joe T. Classic tournament, which will be taking place through Saturday at Lathrop High School, and will also involve the Kenai Kardinals and Kodiak Bears.