In a game as unseemly as the other team’s mascot, the girls basketball team survived their first game in the regional tournament beating the Bettendorf Bulldogs 51-36. The Little Hawks will now advance to the regional final against Cedar Rapids Washington on Tuesday.
“We didn’t play up to our ability, I feel like we could’ve played a lot better, but it feels really good to have a win,” Haley Lorenzen ’14 said.
The game started off slow offensively with both teams turning the ball over several times, but the pace picked up in the second quarter. Fouls were accumulating rapidly for City and they were forced to go to their substitutes early and often. The Little Hawks were up 14-8 when Jordan Sullivan ’12 scored on a jumper to fuel a Little Hawk run. Lorenzen made a lay-up and a free throw to make the score 19-8. Coming off the pines, Katherine Vanderwoude ’12 made her prescence felt during this run and scored two baskets and a free throw to increase the Little Hawk lead to 14. The Bulldogs were held to four points during this stretch leaving the halftime score at 24-12 in favor of City.
“I thought that our bench really came through for us tonight,” head coach Bill McTaggart said.
In the second half, the Little Hawks continued with foul trouble early. Sierra Chambers ’12 had four fouls with about four minutes left in the third quarter, and Lorenzen and Aliyah Gustafson ’13 each had three fouls. This did not slow City down, as they went on a 9-0 run in the fourth quarter that sealed the 51-36 Little Hawk victory.
“It feels good to have survived,” McTaggart said. “Hopefully we’ll come out ready to play Tuesday.”
Until their 9-0 run early in the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs had been packed as tight as sardines in the lane. Preventing the Little Hawks from pounding the ball inside has been a common strategy for recent opponents along with closely guarding Mickey Hansche ’13. McTaggart says the team has been practicing spreading out the defense in practice, but it has yet to transfer into games consistently.
“We have to be able to penetrate, and then [Hansche] needs to rub off of screens and we’ll get her open,” he said.
Lorenzen led the team with 16 points and Chambers followed with nine. Vanderwoude contributed valuable minutes and finished with seven points off the bench.
The Little Hawks will face Cedar Rapids Washington in the regional final on Tuesday, February 21, at 7 p.m. at Cedar Rapids Kennedy. McTaggart says staying strong on defense and not rushing their offense will be the keys to success for Tuesday’s game.
“We have to play four quarters of defense and run our offense,” he said. “If we do that, we’ll make it to Des Moines.”
