Central Lyon barely escapes Pella Christian in Class 2A semifinal

“For a second, I thought our season was over there. I was so scared.’’

By Kevin White | Photos by Matthew Putney 

DES MOINES – Central Lyon’s fate rested in the hands of Pella Christian junior Tysen De Vries.

With his team trailing by one, De Vries caught a pass from Aiden Stoltz in the right corner and released a 3-point shot with two-tenths of a second remaining. 

“For a second, I thought our season was over there,’’ Central Lyon’s Andrew Austin said. “I was so scared.’’

The ball bounced off the side of the rim and top-seeded Central Lyon advanced with a 56-55 Class 2A boys state semifinal basketball victory over fourth-seeded Pella Christian Thursday at Wells Fargo Arena.

The game featured 12 lead changes. Neither team led by more than seven.

“It was a really, really good high school game, and I hope the fans realize how good of a game that was,’’ Central Lyon head coach Ben Gerleman said.

In its second state appearance, the Lions (23-1), 14th in SB Live’s final all-class Top 25 of the regular season, advance to the championship game for the second straight year. They’ll meet third-seeded Western Christian (22-3) on Friday at 3 p.m.

In last year’s final, Rock Valley blew out Central Lyon, 74-51. The Lions will get another shot at their first title after outlasting a gutsy Eagles (16-10) club that buried 11 of 24 (45.8%) from 3-point range.

“We had some guys that stayed composed in big moments,’’ said Pella Christian coach JD Boer, whose team was fifth in the Little Hawkeye Conference. “We love basketball because you never know what’s going to happen. We had two games to get to the state tournament that were just like this one, and we found a way to win. Tonight, we didn’t. That’s the way it goes. It doesn’t change anything about this team. Really proud of them for the way we competed.’’

Clinging to a 54-52 lead, Central Lyon’s Zach Lutmer, an Iowa football recruit, swished a 15-foot jumper with one second left on the shot clock to put his team ahead by four with 1:40 left.

Lutmer averages nearly 21 points a game but finished with only eight, to go with six assists. Austin said the Lions still wanted the ball in his hands in that situation.

“That was crucial,’’ he said. “Without that we probably would have lost. He’s a clutch player and that was a very clutch shot.’’

Dane Geetings responded with an off-balance 3-pointer with 21 seconds left, trimming it to 56-55 even though his feet weren’t set. Lutmer and Reece Vander Zee each missed the front ends of 1-and-1s with 14.6 and 13.1 seconds left, giving Pella Christian a chance to go for the win. But De Vries’ corner 3 was just off the mark.

“We survived,’’ said the 6-foot-7 Austin, who had 20 points and 14 rebounds. “When he missed that, I was so happy.’’

Austin scored eight straight points on a 3-pointer, a conventional three-point play and a field goal to put Central Lyon up 38-31 midway through the third. But Pella Christian ran off 11 straight to take a 42-38 lead into the fourth.

“When we were down (seven) points, I think most people probably thought, ‘This is it. This is the No. 1 team going to take them down,’’’ Boer said. “The fact that we responded to that was so cool to see. Guys just trading shots and trading buckets. Then you give yourself a chance at the end.’’

Pella Christian was making its 17th state appearance and was seeking its ninth trip to the finals. Geetings led the Eagles with 20 points and De Vries added 11 points and five assists.

Central Lyon took the Eagles’ best shot and is still standing. Vander Zee added 19 points and seven rebounds. Vander Zee caught a 30-yard touchdown pass from Lutmer in the 2A football championship game last November, when the Lions beat Williamsburg 10-6 for the title.

“All in all, our kids believe in each other and that’s the biggest thing,’’ Gerleman said. “We would have loved to have made a couple free throws late. What matters is the outcome, and we get to play again tomorrow so that’s great.’’

Hull Western Christian 79, Roland Story 61

Once Hull Western Christian got its transition game rolling, it was unstoppable Thursday afternoon in a 79-61 victory over Roland-Story in the Class 2A semifinal.

The game was tied at 43, but the Wolfpack outscored the Norsemen 36-18 over the last 11:30 of the game playing a fast-paced tempo that resulted in multiple transition baskets.

The sophomore tandem of Kaden VanRegenmorter and Karsten Moret were phenomenal for third-seed Wolfpack. They combined for 40 points with VanRegenmorter scoring a game-high 23 points and pulling down eight rebounds. Moret hit for 17, knocking down four 3-pointers.

“Karsten hit some shots at the beginning of the game and when he can hit some shots he gets more confident, and we know those guys are tremendous players,” said Western Christian head coach Derek Keizer. “They still make sophomore mistakes, but they’re resilient and they fight. They don’t drop their heads. They just move on to the next play. That’s probably their best tribute.”

“I think we’re a deep team so, we sub everyone in, play hard, and we just persevered,” Kaden VanRegenmorter said. “We just kept playing hard, kept playing together. When we play defense and rebound, we’re really hard to beat because we can get out and run.”

“I love playing with Kaden,” Moret said. “We just love playing basketball.”

Senior Tate VanRegenmorter, who scored 18 points, was happy for his sophomore teammates to have such outstanding games on the biggest stage for Iowa high school basketball.

“My brother Kaden and Karsten are the hardest workers on the floor,” he said. “They waited for their rhythm, when they found it, they hit the ground running. I’m so proud of the way they played today.”

The first quarter resembled a track meet at times as both teams played at a furious pace. The Wolfpack used a 7-0 run to lead 19-18 at the quarter break.

The pace slowed some in the second quarter, but the intensity did not. Western Christian held a slight 34-32 advantage at halftime.

Both teams made 12 of 29 shots (41.4 percent) in the first half and connected on three 3-pointers. The only difference was Western Christian made two more free throws (7 to 5). There were nine lead changes and seven ties.

Each team led by as many as four points – Roland-Story at the four-minute mark of the first quarter, and Western with six seconds left in the half.

The third quarter saw two ties and another lead change until the Wolfpack went on a furious 9-0 run to go up 52-43 with 2:11 mark on a Kade VanRegenmorter layup off a steal and assist from Tyler Mantel.

The Norsemen, who were ranked 16th in the latest SB Live all-class top 25, regrouped after a timeout and trimmed the lead to 54-48 at the quarter break.

But that was as close as the game was the rest of the way as Western Christian turned it into a blowout with a 20-6 run. The Wolfpack’s transition defense was incredible during a three-minute stretch where they held the Norsemen scoreless.

“I think it was conditioning,” Keizer said. “We felt they were tired at half. We felt the more opportunities we could run the better.

“I thought they were forcing some shots because our defense was so good. They were hitting shots, but I felt they were tough shots, and over the course of four quarters they were wearing down, and we were getting riled up.”

The Wolfpack’s passing was textbook, especially in the transition game where they outscored Roland-Story 14-2, had 13 points off turnovers and 38 points in the paint.

“Our passing against their zone really was something good,” Keizer said. “The ball never stuck. It just kept moving, and one possession it was five different angles, and we ended up getting a layup, and that kinda knocked the wind out of their sails. When we can move the ball like that, we can do some pretty good things.”

“We really stuck together,” Moret said. “We talked about getting more defensive rebounds when we went in at halftime, because they’re a really good offensive rebounding team We got to the hoop when we wanted.”

The two-seed Norsemen were led in scoring by their back court of Isaiah Naylor and Jonovan Wilkinson with 19 points each. Luke Patton, who had an incredible 25-point, 22-rebound performance in the quarterfinal win over Carroll Kuemper, was held to eight points and 11 rebounds.

Roland-Story graduates four senior starters who played in back to back state tournaments. It returns Wilkinson off a team that ends the season with a 25-2 record.

The 3 seed Wolfpack will face Central Lyon for the 1A championship at 3 p.m. Friday afternoon. Despite Hull and Rock Rapids being just 20 miles apart in northwest Iowa, the two teams did not play in the regular season.

“Living so close we know they’re an unbelievable team and coach (Ben) Gerleman always has his team prepared,” Keizer said. “They’re the number one team in the state for a reason. They’re battle tested.”

“We know they’re a great team, and it’s gonna be a great game tomorrow,” Tate VanRegenmorter said.

- Chris Short