Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

IOWA CITY – Regina’s District 7 semifinal with Dyersville Beckman looked like a typical postseason game.

A tight, defensive-oriented, grind-it-out game.

In other words, a classic Regina win.

Regina limited Dyersville Beckman to 32 percent shooting on its way to a 48-42 win over the Blazers in its postseason opener on Thursday in Iowa City.

“That’s how we play, we have to get stops and we have to make teams guard a possession and not just five seconds and then go down and guard again,” Regina coach Paul Rundquist said. “Our guys have bought in.”

Tate Wallace led three Regina players in double figures with 17 points as the Regals improved to 6-0 on the season in games decided by eight points or less.

Regina held Dyersville Beckman to just 6-of-26 shooting from 3-point range and shot 57 percent from the field while improving to 19-3 on the season.

“After the first quarter we focused on defense a lot more,” Wallace said. “Defense is a big part of what we do and that’s what Rundquist always says. We got the ball inside a good amount and played a little bit of bully ball.”

Regina will face seventh-ranked Grundy Center (20-2) in the District 7 title game on Tuesday at 7 p.m.

Grundy Center overcame a one-point halftime deficit to down West Branch 53-38 in a regional semifinal on Thursday.

“The postseason is definitely a grind so you rely on your defense,” Regina sophomore Will Litton said. “If your shots aren’t going in you can rely on your defense and that’s what we want to do.”

Drew Greve had 14 points and Litton had 10 of his 12 points in the second half as Regina built a 43-32 fourth-quarter lead.

Dyersville Beckman (12-11) made a finally rally, cutting the lead to 45-42 on a 3-pointer by sophomore Tayveon Barnhart with 10.5 seconds remaining.
Regina made three free throws in the final 9.1 seconds to put the game away.

Barhnhart had 20 point to lead Dyersville Beckman but the rest of the Blazers made just nine of 36 field goal attempts and combined for 22 points.

“Runquist has a bunch of experience and he’s really smart and one of the things he always tells us is that tournament basketball is all about defense and making the teams guard,” Greve said. “That’s what it comes down two and the past two year’s that’s what he has instilled in us is to be a defensive-minded team.”

Regina trailed 10-6 after the opening quarter but took the lead for good with a 14-2 run in the second quarter.

Wallace and Greve scored all 18 second quarter points for Regina as the Regals took a 24-17 halftime lead.

Greve scored twice on transition layups following steals and Wallace scored the final four points of the half for Regina.

“One thing we talk about a lot is our defense leading to offense,” Greve said. “That completely changes the game when we are able to do that.”

Regina shot 75 percent from the floor over the final three quarters.

“We want long possessions and to make the defense play a long time and its nice when the other team puts up a shot in five seconds and we go down and use all 35,” Wallace said. “That’s what we were able to do in the second half.”

Dyersville Beckman         10  7  10  15  –  42

Regina                                    6  18  10  14  –  48

Dyersville Beckman (42) – Brenndan Engler 0-2 2-2 2, Andrew Schlarmann 1-2 0-0 2, Tayveon Barnhart 7-14 2-2 20, Luke Oltmanns 2-8 0-0 5, Jake Wegmann 4-17 0-0 8, Noah Kluesner 1-6 0-0 3, Helle 1-1 0-0 2, Totals 16-50 4-4 42.

Regina (48) – Connor Nicpon 0-0 1-2 2, Drew Greve 6-8 1-5 14, Tate Wallace 7-11 3-4 17, Will Litton 5-7 2-4 12, Ben Wade 0-3 0-0 0, Tate Lynch 2-6 0-2 4, Totals 20-35 7-17 48.

3-point field goals – Dyersville Beckman 6-26 (Engler 0-2, Barnhart 4-9, Oltmans 1-2, Wegmann 0-8, Kluesner 1-5), Regina 1-6 (Greve 1-3, Lynch 0-3). Rebounds – Dyersville Beckman 26 (Oltmans 8), Regina 30 (Wallace 8). Total fouls – Dyersville Beckman 11, Regina 7. Turnovers – Dyersville Beckman 8, Regina 13. Fouled out – None. Technical fouls – None.

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