Paton-Churdan made its first appearance in the Class 1A girls’ basketball rankings from the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union on Thursday. That night, Coach Tom Kennedy’s number 15 Rockets fell to number seven Collins-Maxwell in Churdan by a 62-55 score. The Spartans left town at 16-0 while the Rockets fell to 11-4.

P-C led 27-26 entering the third quarter before the Spartans scored 19 points in the stanza to 10 for the Rockets. P-C closed to within 56-51 in the final minute before the visiting team won by seven points. Danielle Hoyle led the Rockets with 24 points and Chloe Berns added 14. The Spartans had three players score in double figures and were led by Alexis Houge with 20 and Erica Houge with 17.

The boys’ game went to C-M by a final of 80-62.. The Rockets are now 3-12 on the season and have lost six games in a row while C-M is 6-11. The Rockets led 24-17 after one quarter, then the Spartans scored 23, 20, and 20 points in each of the last three quarters to pull away. Joe Carey led P-C with 18 points and Bradyn Smith had 13 points, 11 rebounds, five assists, and five steals. Connor Brus scored 14 points and Shaydon Thurman added 12 points, but four players scoring in double figures wasn’t enough to get the win.

The Paton-Churdan teams play a Rolling Valley Activities Conference girl/boy doubleheader tonight in Churdan vs. Woodbine.