They sailed through rough waters in the early going, but the PCM girls’ basketball team’s ship is still upright through nine games. The Mustangs’ only two losses are to non-conference opponents in Knoxville and Pella Christian, and they just knocked off Saydel, who was at the time ranked in the top 15 in Class 3A. Defense has been a big key to PCM’s current 7 – 2 record; they’ve allowed less than 30 points in a game three different times this season and are giving up only 37 tallies per game on average. The Mustangs have allowed 50 points twice this year, and both of those came in their only losses up to this point. Coach Bret Grier says that though the defense has been sharp, he and the coaching staff noticed some smaller areas they’ll need to improve on to sharpen their “steel curtain defense.” PCM has a big contest back from break when they host number-eight ranked Nevada on January 6.