Boyden-Hull survived a cold shooting first half and poor free throw shooting as the second ranked and defending champion Comets held off fifth ranked Lone Tree 58-54 in a class 1A quarterfinal round game at the boys state basketball tournament.
The Comets made only seven of 22 shots in the opening half and for the game made only 12 of 24 from the line.
Boyden-Hull coach Bill Francis says they didn’t “come out and play with the ease that we usually do.” He says they were able to fight through it and move on. Bryan Forbes finished with 29 points as Lone Tree ends the season with a record of 25-2.
Lone Tree shot only 39 percent for the game, including just five of 15 from three point range.
Seventh ranked North Tama outscored Ankeny Christian 10-0 to start the fourth quarter as the Red hawks rallied for a 47-45 victory in a class 1A quarterfinal round game. Mitchell Boerm scored 15 of his game-high 19 points in the second half as North Tama rallied from a ten point halftime deficit.
“This is North Tama’s first time being down there and it showed it was our first time being down there in the first half,” Boerm says.
North Tama also survived poor free throw shooting in which they made only 14 of 32 from the stripe.
Jordan Vorwald’s layup with 1:02 remaining gave MFL Marmac the lead for good as the Bulldogs edged seventh ranked North Cedar 67-64.
And top-ranked West Fork survived a defensive battle against Dike New Hartford for a 45-36 win.