Top-ranked Hinton scored 49 second half points in an 81-27 victory over Guthrie Center to finish out the quarterfinal round of the opening day of the Girls’ State Basketball Tournament Monday. . For the game, Hinton had 25-assists and coach Matt Leary says that shows how his team plays. He says interior passing and unselfishness are the hallmarks of this team. He says they played better defense than he expected.
In class 4A, Ottumwa dared someone besides Waterloo West six-seven center Gillian Goring to beat them and the Wahawks obliged. Goring, the tallest ever player in the state tournament, was held scoreless in the opening quarter but third-ranked West led 23-6 enroute to a 64-49 win. Ottumwa coach Chris Guess would like to have the first quarter back. Guess says they would have changed the gameplan and tried to play full court basketball instead of a half court game.
Ottumwa rallied in the second half and got to within eight in the fourth quarter. Goring had 22-points on 11 of 12 shooting despite garnering much of the attention. Goring has been working on dunks in practice and will try it if the opportunity arises this week. In the other 4A matchup, after trailing by two at the half, second ranked West Des Moines Dowling outscore Dubuque Wahlert 39-21 in the second half in a 65-49 win.