Regina Takes Control of RVC South Division Race With Road Win at Mid-Prairie
Your Prep Sports
Calm. Cool. Collected.
That was Regina on Tuesday evening in its meeting of River Valley South Division leaders with Mid-Prairie.
Now you can add conference leader to that list.
Regina took control of the game with an 8-0 first quarter run and never let the lead slip away in a 62-51 win over Mid-Prairie in a hotly contested RVC South Division showdown in Wellman.
“We just never want to get too worked up we just want to play our game,” Regina coach Paul Rundquist said. “This is a tough place to play we just relied on the fundamentals. Shots were falling for the most part so we just had go guard and play defense.”
Regina had three players score in double figures, shot 50 percent from the floor and had 16 assists on 23 made field goals.
Impressive offensive numbers for a high-stakes conference game on the road.
Sophomore posts Will Litton and Tate Wallace combined for 35 points on 13-of-20 shooting as Regina patiently and effectively got the ball into the paint for high-percentage looks.
“I don’t want to be the team that comes down and fires a quick shot up, I think consistent teams are teams that work the defense and get a high percentage shot,” Rundquist said. “I feel like we’ve had success playing that way last year and it makes us a little more disciplined and maybe hard to watch sometimes when we take that shot with two or three seconds left but we seem to still get decent looks.”
Litton had 19 points and eight rebounds and Wallace added 16 and five as Regina (10-1) stretched its winning streak to 10 and took sole possession of the RVC South Division lead.
Regina is 6-0 in RVC South Division play while Mid-Prairie (9-2) dropped to 4-1 in RVC South action.
Litton, Wallace, freshman Ben Wade and Drew Greve all had baskets during an 8-0 first quarter surge that gave Regina a 17-9 lead it would never give up.
The Regals got an offensive boost in the second quarter from Tate Lynch who hit three 3-pointers in the quarter, including two during a 10-2 run that pushed the Regina lead to 27-15.
“When I come in I don’t think about shooting I try to move the ball around and if it gets back to me I’m ready for an open look,” Lynch said.
Regina led 32-25 at the half and withstood a third-quarter surge by Mid-Prairie.
Junior guard Bryce Henry, who entered averaging 24.1 points per game, scored a game-high 32 for the Golden Hawks and cut the lead to 34-30 early in the third quarter.
Regina’s Connor Nicpon answered with a 3-pointer and a pair of baskets by Wallace pushed the Regal lead back to double digits.
“The plan was to shut them all down but that’s easier said than done, (Henry) is a really good basketball player,” Rundquist said. “The way that they play is very difficult to defense because they drive and transitional man to man defense you are supposed to help but if you help in the wrong spot they are going to kick. They are a good team.”
Greve finished with 10 points and eight assists and Lynch had nine points and two rebounds for Regina.
Nicpon had six points and five assists for the Regals.
Regina 17 15 18 7 – 62
Mid-Prairie 13 12 15 11 – 51
Regina (62) – Will Litton 19, Tate Wallace 16, Drew Greve 10, Tate Lynch 9, Connor Nicpon 6, Ben Wade 2
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