Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

MUSCATINE – It was a long wait for redemption for Regina.

The Regals had to wait more than a full year for an opportunity to return to the state tournament following a regional title game loss to Cascade last February.

When the opportunity finally arrived on Wednesday Regina made sure it didn’t slip away.

Second-ranked Reginal scored the first 15 points and rolled to a 73-22 win over Danville in the Class 2A, Region 2 title game at Muscatine High School.

“They were ready for the moment, this is all they’ve wanted is to get back there after last year,” Regina coach Mary Rogers said. “They were so focused, locked in, everything was just driven by passion to win the game.”

Last season Regina had a string of two consecutive state tournament appearances snapped with a 50-47 regional final loss to Cascade.

The Regals got a measure of revenge last week with a 20-point win over the Cougars in the Region 2 semifinals.

On Wednesday nothing was going to stop Regina from a return trip to Des Moines.

Freshman Addie McLaughlin led four Regals in double figures with 19 points and senior Morgan Miller added 17 points as Regina (23-1) returned to the state tournament for the third time in four seasons.

“Last year after that game we all remembered that feeling,” Miller said. “We all have the same goals in mind and know where we want to be.”

Regina will face eighth-ranked Maquoketa Valley (23-2) in a 2A state quarterfinal on Wednesday at 10 a.m. at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

Danville closed the season 15-9.

“I think it means a lot after last year’s loss when we took that really hard,” Regina senior Ella McLaughlin said. “We wanted to come out with a bang today and I think we did that.”

Regina was razor sharp from the opening tip.

The Regals jumped to a 28-5 lead after the first quarter and led 45-7 at the half to trigger the continuous clock after halftime.

Regina shot 60 percent from the floor, including 50 percent (8-of-16) from 3-point range and had five players with at least nine points.

“We know what we want to do but I tell them be where your feet are,” Rogers said. “We have to take it game by game and no matter who we are playing I want our best every time out and our girls buy into that.”

As efficient as Regina was on the offensive end the Regals were even better defensively.

Regina limited Danville to just two first-half field goals and 13 percent shooting while forcing 17 turnovers in the opening half.

“We really tried to focus on defense and getting stops and then our offense takes care of itself when we can get out and run in transition,” Miller said. “At this point we really trust our players and what we’ve put in and so we just have to go out and play.”

Ella McLaughlin had 12 points, senior Caitlin Martin had 10 and sophomore Adalee Klein added nine points for Regina.

Regina will take a 14-game winning streak to Des Moines next week after outscoring three playoff opponents by a combined 100 points.

“I think from the beginning we knew we had a lot of potential,” Martin said. “We saw early this season how much we could accomplish and we’ve become a lot more confident as the season has gone on.”

Danville                       5    2    7    8   –  22

Regina                        28  17  18  10  –  73

Danville (22) – Eastin Chipman 0-4 0-0 0, Violette Sowell 0-3 0-0 0, Alivia Bauer 0-3 2-2 2, Macie Wagner 1-5 0-0 3, Amy Stuecker 1-1 0-0 2, Sadie Smith 0-1 0-0 0, Alaina Gourley 5-7 1-2 11, Claire Montgomery 0-1 0-0 0, Reagan Henkelvig 1-5 2-2 4, Totals 8-30 5-6 22.

Regina (73) – Morgan Miller 6-11 2-4 17, Nora Wade 2-2 0-0 4, Ella Keune 1-2 0-0 2, Caitlin Martin 4-8 2-3 10, Ella McLaughlin 5-7 0-0 12, Anna Trenkamp 0-1 0-0 0, Maggie Sueppel 0-1 0-0 0, Addie McLaughlin 8-12 0-0 19, Adalee Klein 4-6 1-2 9, Totals 30-50 5-9 73.

3-point field goals – Danville 1-9 (Chipman 0-2, Sowell 0-2, Wagner 1-4, Smith 0-1), Regina 8-16 (Miller 3-6, Martin 0-2, E. McLaughlin 2-4, A. McLaughlin 3-4). Rebounds – Danville 14 (Henkelvig 3, Gourley 3), Regina 31 (Miller 5, A. McLaughlin 5, E. McLaughlin 5, Klein 5). Total fouls – Danville 7, Regina 8.  Turnovers – Danville 27, Regina 12. Fouled out – None. Technical fouls – None.

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