It wasn’t pretty but it was effective. Top ranked Des Hoover pulled away from upset minded Cedar Rapids Washington and led by as many as 18 in the fourth quarter enroute to a 51-37 victory in a class 4A quarterfinal. Hoover coach Charles Zanders says when you’re top ranked people feel your supposed to blow everyone out by 30 or 40 points, but he says that’s not the way it has gone all year.
Zanders feels getting the victory will take some pressure off. He says they had big dreams of getting to state and fell short in the substate final. He says the kids worked through the year to get back and he says there was some pressure in the first game, but it felt good to get that out of the way. Washington stunned second rated Iowa City West to get into the tournament. The Warriors finish with a record of 9-15.
In a game that included 50 fouls, three technicals and a player ejection Sioux City East rolled past Fort Dodge 66-49. The Black Raiders burst out to a 32-12 lead at the half before Fort Dodge climbed back into the game with a 20-11 third quarter. East coach Jeff Vanderloo says they played quality basketball in the first half and were aggressive. He says in the second half Fort Dodge was the aggressive team.
Roman Gentry led the Black Raiders with 25-points and 16-rebounds. Gentry says they knew if they rebounded well and played good defense they would win.
Fort Dodge coach Bruce Hartley says you can’t beat many teams by scoring 12 points in the first half.
East improves to 18-6. Fort Dodge ends the season 16-8.
Third ranked Pleasant Valley limited Johnston to just 15 second half points and the Spartans raced away to a 63-39 win. Brian Larson led a balanced Pleasant Valley attack with 14-points. Larson says their coach has preached that they’re not here just to be at state, they want to win the title.
Johnston jumped out to an early 8-2 advantage but the Spartans took over from there and outscored the Dragons 16-4 to close the opening quarter. Larson says once they hit a couple of shots they knew they could beat them as they built their momentum.
Dragons coach Jeff Simpson says they had a great season after battling back when things didn’t go their way. The loss ends Johnston’s season at 14-11.
All-Stater Jason Bohannon fought off early foul trouble and finished with 13 points, eight rebounds and four assists as fourth ranked Linn-Mar beat Indianola 66-52. Bohannon says Indianola has some great shooters and says their two-three zone was tough to work against.
Bohannon played just six minutes in the first half and was limited to four points. He says it was tough getting into the game.
