ihsaaA lighting fast start has Anamosa headed to the class 2A semifinal round. The Blue Raiders raced out to a 20-4 lead at the end of the first quarter and beat Des Moines Christian 74-60.

Kyle Schepanski scored 11 points in the decisive first quarter, including a trio of three pointers. He finished the game with 18 points.

“I remember people saying that it is a lot tougher to shoot in this type of environment but I knew I liked shooting here right away”, said Schepanski. “I hit my first shots in warm ups and a lot of times that is when you don’t shoot well in the games but luckily that was not the case today.”

Des Moines Christian spent the entire game trying to climb out of an early hole. The Lions got to within 61-56 on a basketball by Ben Juhl with 1:50 remaining in the game but could get no closer.

“We knew it was going to be an up tempo game but I thought we missed a couple of bunnies early that changed the game a little bit”, said Des Moines Christian coach Todd Miller. “They came out in the first quarter and hit four threes and it felt like a barrage.”

Juhl led the Lions with 26 points as they end the season with a record of 21-4.