Girls’ State Basketball
Day one of the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union’s State Tournament is in the books and there was only one upset on the day.
Class 5A tipped off the day with two-time defending champion #1 Johnston handling #8 Ankeny Centennial, 54-30. Kelli Kalb tabbed a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds.
A barrage of three-pointers lifted #5 Ankeny past #4 Cedar Rapids Washington 57-44. Reagan Baldwin knocked in five three pointers for the Hawks.
Johnston and Ankeny will square off in the semifinals on Thursday, March 5th, at 10 am.
In the bottom half of the bracket, #2 Dowling Catholic handled #7 Valley, 55-48. Ellie Muller was a force, cashing in for 16 points while grabbing 15 rebounds. The Maroons will take on #3 Waukee Northwest on Thursday at 11:45 am after the Wolves throttled #6 Iowa City West, 80-49.
For the Class 3A state tournament, #1 Mt. Vernon started their path to another state title with a 55-44 victory over #8 Cherokee Washington, as Quinn Pershing tabbed 21 points.
#5 Williamsburg gave #4 Wahlert Catholic all they could handle, but the Golden Eagles were able to soar past the Raiders, 56-47, behind Emily Tanny’s 30 points. Mt. Vernon and Wahlert Catholic will square off on Thursday at 1:30 pm.
Lastly, #7 Mediapolis was unable to buy a basket against a ruthless #2 Maquoketa defense, losing 57-23. Amelia Grier led the team with seven points. Bullette head coach Todd Borrison knew this was not the intended outcome but he was happy to have the extra time with his squad,
“Yeah, that’s what we talked about in the locker room. I mean, not the outcome we wanted today. But yeah, 24-1, and we accomplished a lot. We have a lot on our resume from this year, and something that these kids can be really proud of. And we’ve been close a lot of times in the last eight, nine years. And this group busted through, and they set the tone for the teams to come. And that’s something we’re really proud of. And they’re the nicest kids, and they work really hard. And like I told them in the locker room, when we qualified, the first thing that came to my mind was like, all right, I got another week or week and a half, two weeks to practice with them. Because it makes coaching fun when you’re around a bunch of kids that are doing it for the right reasons. And they work their tail off, and they wanna be coached, and it makes it fun.”
Maquoketa will await their semifinal opponent with a matchup scheduled for Thursday at 3:15 pm.
Class 3A’s #3 Des Moines Christian and #6 Forest City will lead off today’s slate of contests with Class 4A’s quarterfinals following.
Boys’ Postseason Basketball
In Class 3A, #3 Keokuk fell to #1 Pella last night, 60-47, in the Substate 5 championship. Griffin Simpson led the Dutch with 20 points. The Chiefs finished the season with a 19-5 record.
For the Class 1A State Tournament, #4 Burlington Notre Dame will face off against #5 Bellevue on Tuesday, March 10th, with tip-off at 3:45 pm. KILJ 105.5 FM, kilj.com, will be on the call with the pregame show at 3:30 pm.
Southeastern Community College
The men’s basketball team will take on Marshalltown Community College in the first round of the Region 11 tournament tomorrow, March 4th, at home at 7 pm.
The baseball team will compete on Friday, March 6th, with another matchup against Southwest Mississippi Community College.
The softball team will take on Black Hawk College on Friday in a doubleheader.
College Basketball
The Iowa State women’s team nabbed a bye and will get back to action in the Big 12 tournament on Thursday, March 5th, at 5:30 pm.
The #9 Iowa women’s team earned the double bye and will get ready for action in the Big Ten tournament on Friday, March 6th, at 5:30 pm.
The Iowa men’s team will square off against #3 Michigan on Thursday at 7 pm.
The #6 Iowa State men’s team fell to #2 Arizona last night, 73-57. Tamin Lipsey led the way with 17 points. The Cyclones will look to bounce back on Saturday, March 7th, at 1 pm at home.
This Day in Sports History
1920 – The Montreal Canadiens scored an NHL record 16 goals, beating the Quebec Bulldogs 16-3.
1983 – Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Terry Bradshaw is admitted to the hospital for surgery to repair his throwing arm under the alias ‘Tom Brady.’
2024 – Iowa’s Caitlin Clark became the NCAA Division I all-time career scoring leader, surpassing Pete Maravich’s career total of 3,667 points as she went on to finish the night with 35 points in a win over Ohio State.