Girls’ State Basketball
Day two of the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union’s State Tournament featured three of the classes whittling the bracket down to their semifinal matchups.
Class 3A held their final quarterfinal matchup to tip-off the day and #3 Des Moines Christian took down #6 Forest City, 52-46. Reese DeVooght led the effort with 23 points. The Lions will tangle with #2 Maquoketa tomorrow, March 5th, at 3:15 pm.
For Class 4A, #2 Dallas Center-Grimes set the tone with a one-sided victory over #7 Waverly-Shell Rock, 59-39. Macy Meyer cashed in for 17 points on 7 for 11 shooting.
#3 Norwalk bookended their matchup with #6 Central DeWitt, outscoring the Sabers 30 to 20 in the first and fourth quarters to walk away with a 50-37 victory. The Warriors were an impressive 16 of 17 from the free throw line, including a 10 for 10 performance from Braylyn Birmingham as she finished with 26 points.
Norwalk and Dallas Center-Grimes will play tomorrow at 5 pm.
In the bottom half of the bracket, #1 Bishop Heelan crushed #8 North Polk 81-56. Melina Snoozy broke the Class 4A state single game scoring record with 39 points as she also grabbed 12 rebounds.
Lastly, #4 Clear Creek-Amana was upset by #5 Carlisle, 58-44. Four of the five starters for the Wildcats finished the game in double figures, as Mallie Stoner collected 10 rebounds for a double-double.
Carlisle will look for another upset tomorrow at 6:45 pm against Bishop Heelan.
Class 2A got two of their quarterfinals games in last night, as #1 Hinton fended off a 2nd half rally to escape with a 46-45 victory over #8 West Lyon. The Blackhawks, one of the best three-point shooting teams this season, went 0 for 11 from beyond the arc.
In another tight matchup, #4 Denver’s ferocious 21-point 3rd quarter lifted the Cyclones past Emmetsburg, 45-42. Channing Johnson did the heavy lifting, going off for a 22 point/11 rebound double-double.
Hinton, who is looking to defend their state title, will take on Denver in the semifinals on Friday, March 6th, at 10 am.
Class 2A and Class 1A will finish their quarterfinal round today.
In Class 5A, #1 Johnson and #5 Ankeny will square off in the semifinals tomorrow at 10 am. In the bottom half of the bracket, #2 Dowling Catholic will take on #3 Waukee Northwest tomorrow at 11:45 am.
For the Class 3A state tournament, #1 Mt. Vernon and #4 Wahlert Catholic will square off tomorrow at 1:30 pm.
Boys’ Postseason Basketball
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.
Other Class 1A matchups include: #1 St. Edmond facing off against #8 Woodbine, #2 MMCRU taking on #7 Boyden-Hull, and #6 Marquette Catholic looking to upset #3 Bishop Garrigan.
Boys’ Substate Basketball
Mt. Pleasant’s Isaiah Lange was named to the Class 3A All-Substate Team for Region 4. The sophomore put together a stat line of 17 points, seven rebounds, and four assists in their first round matchup against Assumption. Lange averaged 14 points and nearly eight rebounds per game for the season.
Southeastern Community College
The men’s basketball team will take on Marshalltown Community College in the first round of the Region 11 tournament tonight 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 tomorrow, March 5th, at 5:30 pm. The Cyclones will be led by Jada Williams and Audi Crooks (unanimous), who were both placed on the Big 12 All-Conference 1st Team yesterday.
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 Hawkeyes will lean on Ava Heiden, who was placed on the All-Big Ten 1st Team, as Hannah Stuelke earned 2nd Team honors.
The Iowa men’s team will square off against #3 Michigan tomorrow at 7 pm.
The #6 Iowa State men’s team will look to bounce back on Saturday, March 7th, at 1 pm at home.
This Day in Sports History
1927 – Babe Ruth becomes the highest-paid player in MLB history when he signs a 3-year, $70,000 per season contract with the New York Yankees.
1970 – Jacksonville is the first college basketball team to average 100-plus points per game.
1993 – First ESPY Awards: Michael Jordan and Monica Seles win.