Live Blog: State Tournament Day 1
We will be keeping you updated throughout the day right here with all the action at the State Tournament! Follow us on Twitter @PGHIowa in order to get full updates. Check back to see updated game scores at each half and stats throughout the day as well as a short recap of each game. If you can’t make it to Des Moines, follow along with the action right here: Video Stream of 1st Round Games.
Game 1: Johnston 66 vs. Urbandale 57 (5A)
Possibly the game of the tournament, it was all Urbandale in the first half as they held a commanding lead by 18. They were running in transition and draining their shots. Johnston flipped a switch to start the second half and just absolutely took the game over. They cut the Urbandale lead to seven at the end of the third and by the 4:43 mark in the fourth, took the lead for good. Maya McDermott willed her team to the victory in this one as Johnston outscored Urbandale 43-16 in the second half.
Player of the Game: Maya McDermott
McDermott had nine points at the half but turned it on in the second half. She scored 13 points in the second half and put her team on her back to lead them to the victory. It was a great showing by the Northern Iowa commit who definitely didn’t want her season to end today.
Best Stat Lines
Maya McDermott (Johnston): 22 points, 2 assists
Kendall Nead (Johnston): 15 points, 5 rebounds
Regan Nesheim (Johnston): 14 points
DeeDee Pryor (Urbandale): 16 points, 8 rebounds, 4 steals
Jada Gyamfi (Urbandale): 12 points
Game 2: Iowa City 59 vs. West Des Moines Valley 66 / OT (5A)
A great encore to the prior game, Iowa City came out on fire and built an early six point lead. Valley turned it on in the second quarter though as they took the lead into the half 34-29. Iowa City held a lead midway through the fourth quarter before Zoe Young nailed two 3-pointers in a row to take the lead by three 50-47 with 4:38 left in the game. Iowa City battled back and cut the lead down to one points with 1:10 left in the game before Valley scored on a Young lay-in to push the lead to three points. Rose Nkumu would then hit a step back 3-pointer to tie the game with 30 seconds left in the game. Both teams would miss a shot in the final 10 seconds and we would head to overtime. It was all Valley in the extra frame as they took all the momentum and cruised to a 66-59 win.
Player of the Game: Zoe Young
Young scored 30 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in the game and was nothing short of magnificent. She pulled her team together in the second half and had a series where she hit back-to-back 3-pointers to give them the lead. She played tough and aggressive the entire second half. Something that they really needed in order to pull out the win.
Best Stat Lines
Zoe Young (Valley): 30 points, 10 rebounds
Alex Honnold (Valley): 15 points, 9 rebounds
Rose Nkumu (Iowa City): 25 points
Aubrey Joens (Iowa City): 19 points
Game 3: Waukee 70 vs. Dowling Catholic 75 / 3OT (5A)
In a crazy game, Dowling Catholic overcame Caitlin Clark fouling out in the third overtime to salt away the victory. Caitlin Clark scored 42 points to lead her team to the win, but it was Grace Gaber who made five free throws at the end of the game to propel Dowling to the win. While no team held a double digit lead, it was Dowling who took a 8-0 lead to begin the game and looked to be off and running. Waukee’s largest lead came in the second overtime as they opened up a four point lead before Dowling came charging back.
Player of the Game: Caitlin Clark
Even though Clark scored 42 points on 39 shots, I would be hard pressed to give the player of the game to anyone else. She really played well and stepped up and hit big shots when they needed her to do so. She is a top player in the nation for a reason and she showed us why today. Look for her to have a huge tournament.
Best Stat Lines
Caitlin Clark (Dowling Catholic): 42 points, 10 rebounds
Grace Gaber (Dowling Catholic): 13 points
Katie Dinnebier (Waukee): 31 points
Jori Nieman (Waukee): 20 points
Game 4: Ankeny Centennial 56 vs. Southeast Polk 61 / OT (5A)
Ankeny gave it all that they had but in the end Southeast Polk squeaked out a three point win. In the game, Ankeny Centennial fell behind early by 12 points but battled back to take a one point lead midway through the fourth quarter. Both teams stayed close with each other until the very end as Southeast Polk’s Maggie McGraw iced away the game at the free throw line late.
Player of the Game: Maggie McGraw
McGraw played exceptionally well in this one especially on the defensive end late. As they were getting beaten inside, McGraw pushed down and forced turnovers on the entry passes taking away Ankeny Centennial’s first option. She scored 24 points on the night and grabbed eight rebounds. She played an all around very complete game.
Best Stat Lines
Maggie McGraw (Southeast Polk): 24 points, 8 rebounds
Grace Larkins (Southeast Polk): 15 points, 8 rebounds
Kenna Sauer (Ankeny Centennial): 17 points, 12 rebounds
Rachel Schon (Ankeny Centennial): 12 points, 12 rebounds
Game 5: North Polk 59 vs. Estherville-Lincoln Central 47 (3A)
North Polk held control of this game the entire time as Estherville-Lincoln Central really struggled to get anything at the rim to go down. They only scored four points in the fourth quarter and had just 18 points at the half. North Polk didn’t shoot much better but they did end up shooting just under 50 percent for the game. North Polk was easily running in transition and was scoring at will on the fast break. This game was over pretty quickly even though Estherville-Lincoln Central didn’t get blown out.
Player of the Game: Maggie Phipps
While Phipps wasn’t very efficient in this one, I thought that she had a pretty big impact on the game. She threw up shot after shot and ended with 19 points on 21 shots. She was pretty solid defensively and I thought that she handled the ball pretty well even though she had three assists.
Best Stat Lines
Maggie Phipps (North Polk): 19 points, 4 rebounds
Jaedon Murphy (North Polk): 15 points, 11 rebounds
Josie Condon (Estherville-Lincoln Central): 21 points, 12 rebounds
Game 6: Crestwood 37 vs. Waukon 48 (3A)
Crestwood could not muster enough offense to win as Waukon came in with a perfect gameplan and shut them down to win the game. Waukon kept the ball out of the post and Crestwood just could not get anything to go down from the outside. Was a great game plan put in place by Waukon and they executed it perfectly. Iowa commit Sharon Goodman did score 21 points, but it was not enough for Crestwood.
Player of the Game: Sydney Ross
Ross played really well in this one and I don’t want her defense to go unnoticed. She fronted the post of Goodman all game long despite giving up a ton of height. She really was the key player in this one due to her defensive abilities. Really liked her long and athletic ability to keep the ball out of the paint and she was able to score a bit.
Best Stat Lines
Annika Headington (Waukon): 15 points, 5 assists
Sydney Ross (Waukon): 13 points
Sharon Goodman (Crestwood): 21 points, 8 rebounds
Game 7: Des Moines Christian 49 vs. Roland-Story 41 (3A)
Des Moines Christian had an 11 point lead early in the fourth quarter but Roland-Story cut it to one point with 3:55 left in the game. Des Moines Christian put their foot down and stretched their lead back out on a quick 3-pointer and a layup off of a turnover. Roland-Story just could never get consistent looks at the basket in the game and Des Moines Christian ended up kind of running away with it late.
Player of the Game: Kaili Lawson (Des Moines Christian)
Lawson had her way inside during this game as she scored 14 points and added seven rebounds. She was a tough task to handle on the inside with how versatile she is under the basket. Very skilled with the ball and she can step out and hit a shot when needed. Was a really good performance in the post by Lawson in this one.
Best Stat Lines
Emma Veenstra (Des Moines Christian): 15 points
Kaili Lawson (Des Moines Christian): 14 points, 7 rebounds
Reagan Barkema (Roland-Story): 14 points, 7 rebounds
Susie Weaver (Roland-Story): 14 points