Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

IOWA CITY – With all-state point guard Callie Levin flanked in the backcourt by emerging scoring options Hailey Miller, Kobi Lietz and Mia Stahle Class 3A second-ranked Solon has become major challenge to defend.

When Solon gets production from front court players Hilary Wilson and Anna Quillin like it did on Saturday against Regina it makes an already scary Spartan offense even more imposing.

Wilson and Quillin combined for 23 points and 17 rebounds as Solon rolled to a 75-44 win over 2A sixth-ranked Regina in a non-conference contest in Iowa City.

“It just gives us even more,” Solon coach Jamie Smith said of the production from Wilson and Quillin. “It brings a lot more to us and it brings a lot more energy to our team. Everyone gets excited when those two are scoring.”

Wilson went 4-for-4 from 3-point range and scored 14 points and Quillin missed a second consecutive double-double by one point finishing with 9 points and 12 rebounds as Solon improved to 16-2.

Levin had 16 points to lead four Spartans in double figures as Solon shot 52 percent from the floor while scoring more than 70 points for the second time this season and first since putting up a season-high 76 against South Tama on January 10.

“I know we all just want to do whatever we can to help our team,” Wilson said. “We are very confident and we know if we pass the ball and work together we are going to be good.”

Levin has continued to play at an all-state level this season averaging 19 points per game while Miller (9.6), Lietz (8.1) and Stahle (7.6) have all stepped up as scorers during a 16-2 start to the season for the Spartans.

With Wilson and Quillin producing at the level they did on Saturday the Spartans are a legit title contender.

“We are playing with a lot of confidence right now,” Smith said. “We just beat a good team, they are a good team.”

Solon never trailed on Saturday, building a 20-13 lead after one quarter and taking control of the game with a 9-2 run to close the opening half.

Fittingly it was Wilson that started the 9-2 burst to end the half with a layup with 2:21 remaining and Quillin that capped the run with a putback with 55 seconds left.

“She is more comfortable and more confidence,” Smith said of Quillin. “When a kid like that gets confidence watch out because she is athletic and long and she does some great things.”

Neither Quillin or Wilson fit the role of a traditional post.

Both played primarily on the perimeter growing up but have filled the defacto ‘center’ position in the guard-centric Solon offense.

They have filled that spot extremely well of late.

“We definitely aren’t too big,” Quillin said. “We played the guard position before so knowing what types of moves our teammates are going to do we know when to move, we know when to set screens for them and hit the boards. We know how to read things better because we’ve played those positions before.”

Quillin had 15 points and 14 rebounds in a win over Marion on Tuesday.

The 5-foot-8 junior nearly equaled that performance on Saturday.

“That game really helped me prove to myself what I can do to help the team,” Quillin said. “I just wanted to keep playing like that to help our team.”

Wilson is a four-year varsity contributor that has stepped into a more prominent role this season.

That role usually means rebounding and defending taller players in the post.

“She has played in a lot of games, she knows the system, she knows who we are and what we are about,” Smith said of Wilson. “She isn’t going to make a lot of mistakes, she might get out-sized a little bit now and then but she makes up for it with effort.”

On Saturday Wilson did her usual dirty work in the paint, grabbing five rebounds, but also enjoyed the best offensive game of her career.

Wilson enter with three made 3-pointers on the season before going 4-of-4 from beyond the arc on Saturday.

“If I miss I don’t shoot any more but if I make them and I am on a roll I will keep shooting,” Wilson said. “When I made the first one I kept looking for open shots.”

Miller added 14 points on Saturday and Lietz had 11 as the Spartans went 10-of-24 from 3-point range.

Regina (16-4) got 15 points from sophomore Morgan Miller but shot just 37 percent from the floor including 2-of-13 from 3-point range.

“We don’t give up threes, I think they maybe had one or two and they were averaging close to eight or nine a game,” Smith said. “We knew if we gave them open threes they were going to drill them and I thought we did a heck of a job on Morgan. I just thought we made everything they did tonight hard.”

Solon                         20  19  15  21  –  75

Regina                       10  13  13   8   –  44

Solon (75) – Kobi Lietz 4-6 0-0 11, Addi Greene 0-1 0-0 0, Hailey Miller 5-11 4-4 14, Delainey Durr 0-1 0-0 0,  Mia Stahle 3-5 2-3 8, Anna Quillin 4-5 1-2 9, Callie Levin 5-16 4-5 16, Kerrigan Lyons 1-1 0-0 3, Hilary Wilson 5-6 0-0 14, Totals 27-52 11-14 75.

Regina (44) – Alli Clark 3-7 3-4 9, Grace Gaarde 2-6 0-0 5, Dani Laughlin 1-5 3-5 5, Ella McLaughlin 2-6 1-2 5, Caitlin Martin 0-1 1-2 1, Morgan Miller 6-13 2-3 15, Morgan Squiers 1-4 0-0 2, Madelyn Greve 1-1 0-0 2, Totals 16-43 10-16 44.

3-point field goals – SOL 10-24 (Lietz 3-5, Miller 0-4, Durr 0-1, Stahle 0-1, Levin 2-8, Lyons 1-1, Wilson 4-4), ICR 2-13 (Gaarde 1-4, Laughlin 0-1, McLaughlin 0-3, Miller 1-3, Squiers 0-2). Rebounds – SOL 30 (Quillin 12), ICR 28 (Clark 7). Turnovers – SOL 11, ICR 15. Total fouls – SOL 15, ICR 13. Fouled out – None. Technical fouls – None.

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