Your Prep Sports

DES MOINES – As a winter storm that warranted blizzard warnings raged outside Regina had to sweat out a quarterfinal thriller inside Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines on Wednesday morning.

Second-ranked Regina used a late 8-0 run to pull away from eighth-ranked Maquoketa Valley for a 53-47 win in a Class 2A state quarterfinal.

The win was the 15^th straight for Regina (24-1) and sends the Regals to the state semifinals for the first time since 2017.

“It was a game of runs and it was back and forth but when we did get that lead we kept our composure,” Regina coach Mary Rogers said. “That was a big thing for us down the stretch.”

Regina will face third-seeded Hinton (24-0) in a 2A semifinal on Friday at 11:45 a.m.

Hinton defeated Rock Valley 53-47 in the 2A quarterfinals to reach the state semifinals for the first time since 2009.

Senior guard Morgan Miller led three Regina players in double figures with 17 points and eight rebounds as Regina snapped a three-game state tournament losing streak.

Fellow senior Ella McLaughlin had 14 points and freshman Addie McLaughlin had 11 points and seven assists for Regina.

“I think the big thing is they had been there before and it wasn’t the outcome they wanted a few years back but they kept their composure really well and I think their leadership stepped up,” Rogers said of the Regina seniors. “They just seemed ready and not nervous so a lot of credit goes to those three upperclassmen.”

Regina snapped a 42-all tie with an 8-0 run that spanned a little more than two minutes early in the fourth quarter.

Addie McLaughlin started the spurt with a transition layup and Miller had a pair of layups during the 8-0 burst that gave Regina a 50-42 lead with 2:57 remaining.

Maquoketa Valley got as close as 50-47 on a Grace Richter 3-pointer with 1:15 remaining.

On the ensuing Regina possession sophomore Adalee Klein grabbed an offensive rebound and made two free throws to push the lead back to 52-47 and Regina held the Wildcats scoreless over the final 1:15.

“After halftime rebounding was clearly an emphasis,” Rogers said. “We looked at second chance points and they had 15. The second half we made that adjustment, and they only had four second chance points. We boxed out, we put a body on somebody and we even scrapped and got loose balls and some transition points off tip outs.”

Caitlin Martin had six points and nine rebounds for Regina while Klein had five points and seven rebounds for Regina.

Maquoketa Valley shot 43 percent from the floor in the opening half that ended in a 28-28 tie after Addie McLaughlin hit a 3-pointer that just beat the halftime buzzer.

Regina limited the Wildcats to 30 percent shooting after halftime including just 4-of-10 shooting from the floor in the fourth quarter.

“The goal for us this year is defense wins,” Roger said. “Shots will fall, at some point we will get something going offensively but on defense it’s just getting stops in a row, finding a body and then valuing the ball on the offensive end.”

Bianka Ronnebaum led Maquoketa Valley with 17 points and eight rebounds and Audra Burbridge had 10 points and seven rebounds for the Wildcats.

Maquoketa Valley  10  18  10   9  –  47

Regina                        14  14  14  11 –  53

Maquoketa Valley (47) – Lanni Beaman 1-5 0-0 3, Adura Burbridge 4-16 2-5 10, Bianka Ronnebaum 6-14 3-3 17, Jada Knipper 1-2 0-0 2, Grace Richter 3-7 0-0 7, Madison Thompson 0-0 0-0 0, Lexi Halverson 1-2 0-1 2, Leah Reicher 3-5 0-0 6, Totals 19-51 5-9 47.

Regina (53) – Morgan Miller 7-12 1-2 17, Caitlin Martin 3-8 0-0 6, Ella McLaughlin 5-11 2-4 14, Addie McLaughlin 5-13 0-0 11, Adalee Klein 1-8 3-4 5, Ella Keune 0-0 0-0 0, Maggie Sueppel 0-0 0-0 0, Totals 21-52 6-10 53.

3-point field goals – Maquoketa Valley 4-16 (Beaman 1-5, Burbridge 0-4, Ronnebaum 2-5, Knipper 0-1, Richter 1-1), Regina 5-15 (Miller 2-4, Martin 0-1, E. McLaughlin 2-6, A. McLaughlin 1-4). Rebounds – Maquoketa Valley 37 (Ronnebaum 8), Regina 31 (Martin 9). Assists – Maquoketa Valley 6 (Burbridge 2, Ronnebaum 2), Regina 11 (A. McLaughlin 7). Turnovers – Maquoketa Valley 13, Regina 9. Total fouls – Maquoketa Valley 12, Regina 8. Fouled out – None. Technical fouls – None.

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