Grundy Center guard Chelsie Luhring led the Spartans to a 54-51 win over Tri Center in the 2A championship game at the Girls State Basketball tournament in Des Moines. In Class 1A, the third time WAS the charm for Charter Oak-Ute. The Bobcats got 25-points from Kala Kuhlmann to edge second-ranked IKM 63-61 for the 1A championship, avenging a pair of regular season losses to their Boyer Valley Conference rival. In men’s college basketball action, the Iowa Hawkeyes may have played their way into the NCAA Tournament. The Hawkeyes survived second half foul trouble and stunned 13th ranked Michigan State 71-69 in the Big Ten tournament in Chicago. The Hawks play Wisconsin in today’s semifinals. The Iowa State Cyclones hope they did not play themselves out of the field of 65. The Cyclones squandered an eight-point second-half lead and fell to Texas Tech 64-56 at the Big 12 tournament in Kansas City.
UNI and Drake lost at the Missourui Valley women’s tournament. The Panthers fell to Illinois State 58-48 while Drake lost to Indiana State 79-66.