Your Prep Sports

DES MOINES – Alex Wiese was the lone Regina starter without state tournament experience entering the Regals Class 2A quarterfinal matchup with Logan-Magnolia.

Wiese looked like a state tournament veteran on Monday.

The sophomore Tipton transfer posted a double-double in her state tournament debut with 18 points and 11 rebounds as top-ranked Regina returned to the state semifinals for the second straight season with a 67-54 win over No. 12 Logan-Magnolia (21-4) at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

Regina will face No. 4 Western Christian (23-2) in the 2A semifinals on Thursday at 1:30 p.m.

“They told me about it (playing at state), it was a little nerve wracking at first but once I got into it, it was just like another game,” Wiese said. “It felt just like another game to me.”

Wiese didn’t waste any time making an impact in the first state tournament game of her career.

She scored the first six points of the game and Regina never trailed while improving to 26-0 on the season.

“Surprising I wasn’t really that nervous,” Wiese said. “But it definitely made it better for me getting off to a good start.”

Regina shot a scorching 62 percent from the field in its state tournament opener, led by Wiese who went 8-of-13 from the field.

The Regals’ state tournament veterans provided plenty of help for Wiese on Monday as Mary Crompton had 15 points and Sarah Lehman added 14.

Five different Regina players had at least six points in the win.

“I think the big thing is you have to have a team that everyone can guard and we found out tonight we can’t sag off anybody,” Logan-Magnolia coach Derek Sonderland said. “They have some other kids that can knock down shots. I think part of that is these kids have been down here, they have the experience. The stage isn’t new to them.”

The hot shooting for Regina wasn’t limited to Wiese’s work in the paint.

Regina hit 7-of-15 3-pointers and had four different players with a triple.

Lauren Gaarde and Alexa Lehman both came off the bench to go 2-for-2 from 3-point range.

Alexa Lehman had eight points and three assists while Gaarde finished with six points.

“They really stepped up tonight, I complimented them after the game because they did some nice things for us,” Regina coach Jeff Wallace said. “We just feel like our depth is a huge advantage for us. We don’t play five or six kids. We play eight and can go nine. I was really proud of those kids.”

Gaarde, Alexa Lehman and Greyson Dumont combined for 19 points and made all six of their field goal attempts.

Dumont had five points and team-high five assists.

“We have a really great well-rounded team,” Wiese said. “We all came together and focused on what we needed to accomplish.”

Wiese scored Regina’s first eight points and had 10 of her team-high 18 points in the first quarter as Regina took a 19-13 lead despite early foul trouble for both Crompton and Sarah Lehman.

“With me and Sarah in foul trouble right away, Alex really, really stepped up,” Crompton said. “She brought the energy and just kind of took the lid off the basket for the rest of the team.”

With Sarah Lehman and Crompton on the bench after picking up a pair of first-quarter fouls it was Wiese, Gaarde and Alexa Lehman that got Regina going offensively.

Gaarde and Alexa Lehman both hit 3-pointers to help Regina build a 17-10 lead.

Regina stretched its lead to 32-25 on an Alexa Lehman 3-pointer with 3:02 left in the first half.

“Everyone was just really on and we have confidence that everyone can make those shots and then they just did so we got pumped up after that,” Sarah Lehman said. “People stepped up and that was the key with how well we did today.”

Logan-Magnolia cut the lead to three points but Regina scored the final four points of the first half on a driving layup by Greyson Dumont and short jumper by Wiese with 31 seconds left to take a 36-29 halftime lead.

Regina put the game away quickly in the second half, outscoring Logan-Magnolia 16-10 in the third quarter to build a 52-39 lead.

The Regals took their biggest lead of the game on a conventional 3-point play by Crompton with 3:40 left.

“They weren’t nervous at all, they were just so excited,” Wallace said of his team. “We have been working for this the entire season. The last couple of practices it was funny I was could just sense they were really ready for this, it was like ‘lets stop practice and lets start playing’.”

Straight led Logan-Magnolia with 22 points and eight rebounds while Kenzie Cunard added 13 points for the Panthers.

Regina                       19  17  16  15 – 54

Logan-Magnolia         13  16  10  15 – 67

Regina (67) – Mary Crompton 5-7 3-3 15, Sarah Lehman 5-8 3-4 14, Greyson Dumont 1-1 3-5 5, Kennedy Wallace 0-5 1-1 1, Alex Wiese 8-13 2-2 18, Alexa Lehman 3-3 0-0 8, Lauren Gaarde 2-2 0-0 6, Team 24-39 12-15 67.

Logan-Magnolia (54) – Alexis Fender 3-6 0-0 8, Kylan Straight 8-11 6-6 22, Kylie Morrison 1-5 0-0 2, Kenzie Cunard 5-13 1-2 13, Delaney Ettleman 4-8 1-1 9, Team 21-43 8-9 54.

3-point field goals – ICR 7-15 (Crompton 2-4, S. Lehman 1-1, Wallace 0-5, A. Wiese 0-1, A. Lehman 2-2, Gaarde 2-2), L-M 4-13 (Fender 2-4, Straight 0-1, Cunard 2-8). Rebounds – ICR 15 (Wiese 11), L-M 25 (Straight 8). Turnovers – ICR 9, L-M 18. Total fouls – ICR 12, L-M 14. Fouled out – None. Technical fouls – None.