The girls state basketball tournament is underway with the opening round in class 1A. Top-ranked IKM downed Southeast Webster 63-45. Senior guard Margot Muhlbauer led IKM with 31-points. The Hawks had a 24-8 rebounding advantage in the opening half.

Muhlbauer says they’ve had the height advantage all year and that continues today. Muhlbauer also talked about playing the first state tournament game in Wells Fargo Arena, “I think it felt pretty cool since we got to play in the old one and now we were the first team to play in the new one.”

Southeast Webster coach Mike Jorgensen says the Eagles gave up too many second shots. He says the defensive strategy worked as IKM missed their outside shots, but he says IKM outrebounded them and go too many second and third chances. The Eagles end the season with a mark of 20-6.

With the offense struggling fourth ranked Twin River Valley relied on defense to advance to the 1A semifinals. Liz Trauger had 18-points and 13 rebounds as the Thunder beat Central Decatur 41-25. She says they were really excited and nervous to play their first game at state, but she says their coach told them at halftime to relax and they came out and played really well.

The Thunder were held nearly 30-points below the season average but made up for it with solid defense. Trauger says they know they can play good defense and stay in the game when their offense is not hitting.

For Central Decatur it was a struggle all game on offense as they made just nine of 27 shots in the contest. Cardinals coach Curtis Boothe says they have some quickness and three point shooting, but they weren’t able to take advantage of it. They close the season with a record of 20-6.

Second rated Charter Oak-Ute opened defense of its 1A title in impressive fashion. The Bobcats limited Postville to just ten second half points in a 53-26 victory. Charter Oak-Ute coach Brian DeJong says their experience in the conference helped them as he says they probably played their best team defense all year.

Senior Center Brittany Heins led Postville with17 points on six of 18 shooting but the rest of the Pirate squad only managed four field goals. Heins says they weren’t able to hit their shots, but she credits Charter Oak-Ute with playing good defense.Despite the loss Heins called it a great experience. She says, “I think it’s every little girls dream if they ever play basketball to get to play in the state tournament.” The Pirates end the season with a record of 19-7.