Eighth-rated Western Dubuque upset second-ranked Sioux City Heelan 53-44 to wrap up the 4A quarterfinal round at the girls’ state basketball tournament. Heelan got a rebound after a missed free throw and had a chance to tie the game with a three pointer with under one minute to go.
Western Dubuque coach, Amy Ostwinkle says they felt it was best to play defense and not foul. “We talked about that in practice and at that point we just wanted to extend out on the shooters and make sure tha everybody is switching, everybody is extending out…whether we want to stop the clock — probably not — we want to keep them going and keep that game clock in our hands,” Ostwinkle says. The strategy worked as Heelan turned the ball over and the Bobcats made their free throws to ice the game.
Ostwinkle hopes the upset gives them confidence to do more. “The thing that I just told them when we walked into the lockerroom, ‘you just took down the two seed in this tournament’ and the fact that we have a lot to prove yet,” Ostwinkle says. She says they need ot believe if they carry out the gameplan, they can get it done.
Western Dubuque senior guard, Zoey Weber, says they didn’t pay attention to anything but getting a stop late. “Honestly, we didn’t look at the scoreboard at all, we were pressing forward like we were going to win by 20,” Weber says. She says this is an important win for the school. “It’s been 30 years since we’ve been here and that’s what we’ve been focusing on,” Weber says. She says the team from 1987 came in and talked to them and gave them confidence.
Sioux City Heelan finishes the season at 20-4. Western Dubuque is 22-2 and moves on to the semifinals.
Here’s the 4A semifinal schedule:
6:45 P.M. Harlan vs. Carlisle
8:30 P.M. Ballard vs. Western Dubuque