Iowa high school girls basketball state tournament: Sioux Central holds off Eddyville-Blakesburg-Freemont

Dike-New Hartford also won its quarterfinal game

DES MOINES, IOWA – Sioux Central staved off a veteran Eddyville-Blakesburg-Freemont team to win its first-ever girls state tournament basketball game, 52-48, Tuesday night in a Class 2A quarterfinal at Wells Fargo Arena. 

The Rebels got off to a tremendous start, scoring the game’s first nine points and 26 in the first quarter against a Rockets team that only surrenders an average of 34 per game.

EBF, which didn’t score its first basket until 3:56 showed on the first quarter clock, trailed by 16 at the quarter break but turned up its defensive intensity and refused to get blown out. It trimmed the deficit to 32-22 at halftime despite shooting 25 percent in the first half, going 7 of 28.

Sioux Central's Morgan Christian shoots a free throw against Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont during a Class 2A state quarterfinal at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines on Tuesday. (Photo by Ryan Timmerman)

The Rockets, who return four starters from last year’s state tournament team, got within 32-26 on a layup by Aliya Wagemon at the 6:36 mark of the third quarter and trailed 44-36 heading into the fourth quarter.

EBF got within six points three more times in the fourth quarter but was stuck there for what seemed like eternity. Wagemon finally cut it to four at 47-43 with a mid-range jumper from the right win at the 2:27 mark.

The two teams then traded 3-pointers as Avery Wilson hit one for Sioux Central and Kate Shafer answered with a 3 with 1:04 left for EBF. After a timeout, the Rockets forced a turnover, Kaylee Helm 3-point attempt was off the mark, Kate Shafer got the rebound and was fouled. However, she missed a pair of free throws with 49 seconds left.

After a Rebel free throw, Wagemon scored on a putback to cut it to just 51-48 but with only 9.3 seconds left.

The Rockets fouled and Christian Morgan converted the second free throw to make it a two possession game and the final score allowing the Rebels to survive despite scoring the same amount of points in the final 24 minutes as they did in the first 8.

Sioux Central, ranked 18th in SB Live’s all-class Top 25, had three players score in double figures – led by Wilson with 17, hitting five triples, to go with six rebounds. Morgan Christian followed with 13 points and six assists and Bradi Krager contributed 12 points.

Sioux Central's Hadley Ayers dribbles up the court against Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont during a Class 2A state quarterfinal at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines on Tuesday. (Photo by Ryan Timmerman)

Molly Shafer paced the Rockets with a game-high 18 points, four rebounds, and four assists. Wagamon had a double-double with 12 points and 12 boards, and Kate Shafer also had double digits in rebounding with 10 rebounds and seven points.

The Rockets (23-2) won the battle on the boards 36-25 but the Rebels shot 45.5 percent from the field (20 of 44) and 43.8 percent (7 of 16) from beyond the arc. EBF made five 3s but it took 23 attempts (21.7 percent).

Sioux Central (23-1) advances to play Dike-New Hartford at 10 a.m. Friday in the semifinals.

Wolverines cruise

Three-time defending state champion Dike-New Hartford made a statement to the rest of Class 2A that they were the No. 1 seed and three-time defending state champions for a reason with a dominating 58-28 triumph over Cascade.

Mary Bixby had a big night, scoring 25 points, hitting seven from behind the 3-point arc. The Petersen sisters (Jadyn and Payton) both contributed nine points. Jadyn also pulled down 17 rebounds. All three players are going to play Division I volleyball – Payton at Louisville and Jadyn and Bixby at Northern Iowa.

Fresh off their third straight state volleyball championship in the fall, the Wolverines are hoping to become just the second basketball team in IGHSAU history to win four straight basketball rings. Ankeny accomplished the feat from 2002-2005.

Dike-NW broke open an early 4-4 tie scoring seven straight and 15 of the next 19 points to lead 19-8 after the first quarter.

Bixby and Izzy Norton hit back-to-back 3s to spark the Wolverines to a 34-12 halftime lead. Bixby scored 17 in the first half, hitting five trifectas.

The Wolverine lead peaked at 29 in the third quarter and never got closer than 28 in the fourth quarter.

Molly Rolling led Cascade (17-7) in scoring with eight points, while teammate Addison Frake snared 10 rebounds.

Dike-New Hartford (24-2), ranked 16th in SB Live’s all-class top 25, will move on the play Sioux Central in the semifinals 10 a.m. Thursday.

--Chris Short | @SBLiveIA