Roland-Story survived a shaky start in which they scored only three points in the opening quarter but the Norsemen went on to post a 38-31 victory over Camanche in a class 2A quarterfinal round game. Maddie Oliver had 16 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Norsemen who needed a good defensive effort early to hang in the game.
Despite the ice cold start Roland-Story only trailed seven to three at the end of one and they eventually fought back to lead 13-11 at the half. Comanche never found the range. The Indians only connected on 13 of 59 shots in the contest, including four of 29 from behind the arc.
The Indians close out the season with a record of 19-4.
Mount Vernon scored the first five points of overtime as the Mustangs edged Audubon 53-45 in a class 2A quarterfinal. Taylor Dicus had 21 points and 15 rebounds for Mount Vernon which rallied from a late four point deficit to force the extra session. She says they knew they needed to come out and play with energy in the overtime, and she says if they had played that way all four quarters, they would not have had as big a problem as they did.
Rebounding was a major factor in the outcome as Mount Vernon owned a 48-25 advantage on the glass. Audubon coach Dereck Sonderland said he was proud of his team’s effort, as he thought they forced some things in transition and got some easy looks at the basket. He says there may have been a few things to tweak, but they gave all they had and didn’t leave anything out on the floor.
The Wheelers end the season with a record of 21-2.
In the class 3A quarterfinals, top ranked Sioux City Heelan overcame a slow start to down Marion 69-61. Carli Tritz had 23 points and nine assists for Heelan which fell behind 14-5 at the outset. Tritz says it’s huge to hit some of your first shots, otherwise you look nervous.
Heelan shot 56 percent in the second half to pull away but Tritz says it started on defense. She says they know they can’t score if they don’t play defense, as they need to start the transition with a rebound.
Morgan Paige scored 34 points for Marion and says after a fast start the Indians could not maintain the momentum. Paige says they focused on being ready for the press as that is their bread and butter. But she says they got outrebounded after coming out on top early on.