Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

DES MOINES – How to defend the height of Sibley-Ocheyedan was a serious concern for Regina head coach Mary Rogers entering Tuesday’s Class 2A quarterfinal.

It was the havoc that the height and length of the Generals caused on defense that proved to be a just as big of an obstacle for Regina.

Fourth-ranked Sibley-Ocheyedan forced 17 turnovers Sibley-Ocheyedan and limited Regina to 30 percent shooting in a 60-39 win over the Regals at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

“They played really good defense, they were connected and they played really well as a team,” Regina senior Grace Gaarde said. “It kind of flustered our team and it shut us down.”

6-foot senior Madison Brouwer was the catalyst on both ends of the court for Sibley-Ocheyedan (22-3) which won its first state tournament game since 1996.

Brouwer had 28 points, 10 rebounds and five steals as Sibley-Ocheyedan advanced to take on top-ranked and two-time defending 2A champion Dike-New Hartford in the 2A semifinals.

“We are really hungry to go out there and show what we can do and kind of prove that we deserve to be here,” Brouwer said. “Having another game with your teammates is something special, when you are a senior you don’t want to be done.”

Brouwer made 12-of-19 field goal attempts as Sibley-Ocheyedan scored 46 of its 60 points in the paint and shot 60 percent from two-point range in the win.

Zoe Ackerman added 17 points on 8-of-11 shooting as the Generals shot 49 percent from the floor.

“We knew they would be really good but film is deceiving, you can’t tell how a team is exactly from film,” Gaarde said. “We knew they had earned that number four ranking for a reason and we knew it would be hard but we did not expect them to come out that fast.”

Regina withstood a nightmarish start and trailed just 10-7 after one quarter despite missing its first 10 field goal attempts and going scoreless for nearly six minutes to open the game.

Morgan Miller buried a deep 3-pointer to just beat the first quarter buzzer and trim the Sibley-Ocheyedan lead to 10-7.

Sibley-Ocheyedan opened the second quarter with a 11-2 run holding the Regals to just a Gaarde put back basket in the opening three minutes of the quarter.

Regina shot 23 percent from the field and had 12 of its 17 turnovers in the first half while falling into a 28-12 hole.

“Their length, we don’t see that, we were shellshocked the first half,” Rogers said. “Their length and their ability to get their hands on the basketball was big. Obviously Brouwer set the tone from the very get-go but it was all of them.”

Playing in the middle of the Sibley-Ocheyedan 1-3-1 zone Brouwer made things difficult for Regina offensively on every level.

Brouwer was one of five different Sibley-Ocheyedan players with a steal and often triggered the Generals’ transition offense.

“Every time I see the ball I just have the mentality that I need to grab it,” Brouwer said. “We have the mindset of giving 100 percent each possession and working hard every possession.”

Sibley-Ocheyedan turned the 17 Regina turnovers in 18 points and scored 10 fast break points to just four for Regina.

“The other thing that was hard to gauge on film was their speed, their transition offense,” Rogers said. “When got the ball they went and we try to go in transition but they were going twice as fast. That was a big thing was their speed.”

Miller had a team-high 11 points for Regina while Gaarde had a strong all-around effort in the final game of her prep career finishing with 10 points, eight rebounds and four assists.

“They tried to fight back the best they could but we just didn’t make enough good plays,” Rogers said. “Too many turnovers, too many errors, too stagnant on offense to get through the zone.”

Alli Clark had nine points and six rebounds and Ella McLaughlin had eight points for the Regals.

Regina                                    7    5   10  17  –  39

Sibley-Ocheyedan             10  18  21  11  –  60

Regina (39) – Alli Clark 3-8 3-6 9, Grace Gaarde 4-10 0-0 10, Ella McLaughlin 4-7 0-0 8, Morgan Miller 4-15 0-0 11, Morgan Squiers 0-2, 0-0 0, Dani Laughlin 0-6 1-2 1, Caitlin Martin 0-1 0-0 0, Lucy Nolte 0-1 0-0 0, Totals 15-50 4-8 39.

Sibley-Ocheyedan (60) – Bria Wasmund 0-5 3-4 3, Zoe Ackerman 8-11 0-1 17, Marissa Ackerman 2-7 2-2 6, Olivia Hensch 3-7 0-0 6, Madison Brouwer 12-19 4-5 28, Shaelyn Kruger 0-1 0-0 0, Keytin Elser 0-1 0-0 0, Totals 25-51 9-12 60.

3-point field goals – ICR 5-26 (Clark 0-1, Gaarde 2-6, McLaughlin 0-1, Miller 3-12, Squiers 0-1, Laughlin 0-4, Nolte 0-1), S-O 1-11 (Wasmund 0-4, Z. Ackerman 1-2, M. Ackerman 0-1, Hensch 0-3, Brouwer 0-1). Rebounds – ICR 28 (Gaarde 8), S-O 35 (Brouwer 10). Assists – ICR 8 (Gaarde 4), S-O 18 (Wasmund 7). Turnovers – ICR 17, S-O 14. Total fouls – ICR 13, S-O 10. Fouled out – None. Technical fouls – None.

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