Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

IOWA CITY – The first season of high school sports is a learning experience for any athlete.

For Regina point guard Grace Gaarde the opening lesson during her debut season was an challenging one – how to deal with pressure.

“I just remember feeling the pressure and feeling like I could not make a mistake and that I had to be perfect,” Gaarde explained of her freshman season. “It was my first varsity sport and it was hard dealing with the pressure.”

By her own admission Gaarde didn’t ace every test that came her way on the court during her first varsity season.

As Gaarde is showing during a breakthrough junior season this winter she learned plenty from her first two years in the varsity lineup.

Gaarde leads Class 2A eighth-ranked Regina (14-3) in scoring, assists and steals and has the Regals on the verge of its first outright River Valley Conference title since 2017.

“It is very, very difficult to play as a freshman and I felt a little overwhelmed at times but I learned from those times,” Gaarde said. “Now I am a lot more comfortable, I learned a lot from the last two years and I know how to do things.”

Despite playing with the pressure of being a freshman starter Gaarde averaged 5.3 points, 2 assists and 1.7 steals per game.

She bumped those numbers up to 9.3 points, 2.7 assists and 2.9 steals per game a year ago while helping Regina to a 12-8 record.

This season Gaarde has taken her game to another level.

The 5-foot-3 junior is averaging a team-high 11.6 points per game and ranks fourth in the state with 5.8 assists per game.

Gaarde also averages a career-high 3.3 steals per game helping Regina to a 14-1 mark in RVC play.

“Not just scoring but she is our assist leader and she gets steals all over the place,” Regina coach Mary Rogers said. “She is super active and she is stepping up as a leader and that is the biggest point of growth is maturity and leadership.”

Even with all the statistical success this season it is the leadership Gaarde provides that is perhaps her most important attribute.

Especially for freshman backcourt mate Morgan Miller.

“I know what it’s like to be in the position so I try to help her out as much as I can,” Gaarde said of Miller. “She is a great player, I love her and she is doing amazing.”

The addition of Miller to the lineup has allowed Gaarde to play more off the ball this season.

She has responded by shooting 32 percent from three-point range and ranks second on the team behind Miller with 34 made three-pointers.

“The last two years I was the point guard but this year with Morgan the amazing player that she is I have been able to be more of a shooter,” Gaarde said. “I’ve never really been a big shooter so that has been a big focus this year is to work on my shooting and try to help our team in that way.”

Shooting, defending, ball handling. Gaarde excels in all those areas.

That versatility is part of what makes Gaarde one of the most valuable and productive players in the conference.

“She has been doing just a little bit of everything,” Rogers said. “Every time I stat a game she is filling up the sheet. She almost had a triple-double last game. She does a little bit of everything.

Gaarde had 13 points, nine assists and seven steals in a win over Wilton last week.

She had 10 assists in a victory over Anamosa and had 23 points, nine assists and seven teams in a win over Northeast earlier in the season.

During the Regal’s current five-game winning streak Gaarde is averaging 11 points, 6.4 assists, 4.6 steals and 2.6 rebounds per game.

“I think it just comes from her mentality, she hates losing and I think that’s just her background for anything she does,” Rogers said. “She plays a lot of sports and that’s just her mindset. She is a winner and she knows how to win.”

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