Iowa Girls Basketball State Tournament: Final Quarterfinal Round Action

The final quarterfinals of the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union State Basketball Tournament hit the court inside Casey’s Center in Des Moines, Iowa on Wednesday, with two games in Class 2A and four in Class 1A.

All semifinal round pairings will be complete by the end of the evening. Games can be live streamed on WatchIGHSAU.org.

Hinton and Denver both punched tickets to the 2A semifinals on Tuesday with one- and two-point victories over West Lyon and Emmetsburg, respectively. Joining them in the final four will be Rock Valley and Treynor.

Rock Valley, the No. 2 overall seed, scored a hard-fought 43-31 victory over Iowa City Regina to move on.

The Rockets last won it all in 2003 when Deb Remmerde, a member of the IGHSAU Hall of Fame and the previous state recordholder for career points, capped off her brilliant career with a third consecutive title. The win over Iowa City Regina marked the first victory at state for Rock Valley since that season.

In the fourth, the Rockets pulled away, outscoring the Regals, 14-4. Haevyn Ranschau had 15 points, Caydence Harmsen scored 12 with five rebounds and Natalie Leusink grabbed 14 boards.

Hudsyn Ranschau contributed 10 points, eight rebounds, three assists and two steals.

For the Regals, Addie McLaughlin had 16 points and six rebounds, as Maggie Scueppel grabbed nine boards. No other player scored more than four points.

Treynor Pulls Upset, Ousts Central Lyon

For the first time since cutting down the nets as champions in 2019, Treynor scored a victory at state, knocking off Central Lyon, 62-50.

Nora Konz had 20 points to lead the Cardinals, as Addison Mayer added 18 and Claire Schrage scored 14. The trio made a combined 23 field goals on the day.

For Central Lyon, the reigning state runner-up, Ayda Vander Zee had 14 points while Shyanne Struckman, Danika Hoogendoorn and Ellianna Hoefert each scored 10.

Graclyn Eastman’s Big Game Carries Algona Bishop Garrigan

Several years ago, Audi Crooks was dominating and carrying Algona Bishop Garrigan to state glory. Now, Graclyn Eastman is doing the same.

Eastman, a junior, had 24 points, 14 rebounds, seven steals and four blocked shots as the Golden Bears advanced to the semifinals with a 64-42 victory over Kee.

Garrigan, the No. 1 seed, also received 22 combined points from seniors Sacha Alesch and Emmi Bartolo, who were both on the title team as freshmen that was led by Crooks in 2023.

Last year, the Golden Bears fell to eventual state champion Council Bluffs St. Albert in the final four.

For Kee, Addison Winters had 21 points while Rylee Mudderman added six with seven rebounds, three assists and two steals.

Dunkerton Deals Lynnville-Sully First Loss

Ava Fuelling scored 22 points, Hailey Kipp had a double-double and a big start to the quarterfinals helped carry Dunkerton past Lynnville-Sully, 60-39.

The Raiders led 23-7 after the first and only added to their advantage before the half. They shot 8-for-12 from the field in the opening eight minutes, burying four 3-pointers. Fuelling was 3-for-3 from deep and 4 of 4 overall in the quarter for 11 points.

Lynnville-Sully entered state unbeaten, but struggled to just 35 percent shooting from the field in this one. Isabelle Vos had eight points, as Breah Lowry and Brooke Harthoorn each finished with seven.

Kate Harthoorn had six points, six rebounds and four assists.

Second Half Surge Carries Newell-Fonda

Holding a seven-point lead at the half, Newell-Fonda got everything clicking in the second half, ousting Saint Ansgar, 77-58.

The Mustangs, who have finished second each of the past three seasons at state and reached the title game seven of the last eight years overall with three titles, were led by Ellie Sievers’ 18 points. Quinn Sievers had 17 and Rylee Hogrefe 12.

Newell-Fonda forced 32 turnovers and converted them into 36 points, as they also received 28 bench points and held a plus-18 edge on points in the paint.

Saint Ansgar was paced by Jacey Johnston’s 28 points, as Lindsay Kruse finished with 13 and Quinn Osgood 11.

Defending Champ Council Bluffs St. Albert Moves On

Avah Underwood had 11 points with 17 rebounds, leading Council Bluffs St. Albert to a 45-37 victory over Exira-EHK in the final quarterfinal game of the tournament.

Underwood, who helped the Saintes win it all last year, also had two steals, two blocked shots and two assists. Brooklyn Rutledge scored nine points while both Eleanor Coughlin and Maeve Ryan each added eight.

Coughlin also have six rebounds, five steals and three assists, as Council Bluffs St. Albert recorded 11 steals.

Exira-EHK struggled from deep, hitting just 2 of 12 shots from the 3-point line. Taryn Petersen finished with 18 points and three steals, as Jaelynn Petersen had eight points, nine rebounds and two assists.

Add us as a preferred source on Google