The class 2-A quarterfinal round is underway at the girls state high school basketball tournament. A matchup between top ten foes featured a frantic fourth quarter rally. Eight ranked Harmony erased a ten point deficit at the end of three quarters to edge number six St. Ansgar 49-44. A pair of three pointers by Angie Kite helped fuel the rally but Harmony coach Brad Sprayg felt rebounding was the biggest factor.Wendy Christy led Harmony with 16-points. St. Ansgar managed only two points in the fourth quarter. Lisa Kreener led the saints with 18. Ninth ranked North Cedar used a 13-2 run in the second half to take command in a 48-35 victory over Jesup. Kelly Lehrman had a game high 17-points and added nine rebounds to pace North Cedar. Jesup coach Jim Gillespie says cold shooting in the second half cost his team. Jesup made just five of 33 shots after halftime.Friday night’s 1A championship game at the girls state tournament will feature a one-versus two showdown. In Wednesday night’s semifinal round, top ranked Preston pulled away from a one point halftime lead to down Treynor 49-38. Center Beth Marvin led Preston with 16-points and says at halftime they talked about having a strong third quarter.Marvin started slowly but said the inside game opened up as the game progressed.Treynor made just five of 22 shots in the second half and coach Gail Hartigan says that lack of production was the difference.Going into the game Hartigan was concerned with Preston’s full court press but says that did not turn out to be the deciding factor.Second-ranked Newell-Fonda outscored sixth ranked I-K-M 21-12 in the third quarter enroute to a 57-46 victory. Newell-Fonda coach Jody Maske says they didn’t want to be tentative and accomplished that.Newell-Fonda moves back to the title game for the first time since 1997 when they finished as the runner-up.
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