Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

DES MOINES – A back-and-forth semifinal battle between Regina and Hinton was deadlocked after 30 minutes on Friday afternoon.

The final two minutes belonged to the Blackhawks.

Third-ranked Hinton scored the final six points of the game to edge second-ranked Regina 51-45 in a Class 2A semifinal thriller at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

“I thought we played really hard, I always know this team is going to go out and play hard, but we just needed more stops on defense at the end,” Regina senior guard Morgan Miller said. “They have some really talented players that made big shots and we just came up a little short.”

Junior guard Sydney Doeschot scored the final six points of the game, all in the final 94 seconds as Hinton (25-0) advanced to the state title game for the first time since 2004.

Doeschot had 20 of her game-high 24 points in the second half as Hinton erased a three-point halftime deficit.

Hinton will face Central Lyon fifth-ranked Central Lyon (21-4) in the 2A title game on Saturday at 4:45 p.m.

Regina had a 15-game winning streak end with the loss and closed the season 24-2.

“I’m so proud of our team, you just don’t get teams like this very often where they just buy in to what you want to do,” Regina coach Mary Rogers said. “They do it for not just themselves but for everyone around. They are a mess right now because they just love each other so much and they wanted to get this done so badly.”

This game was back-and-forth from the opening tip.

Regina scored the first six points of the game, trailed 14-11 after the first quarter and scored the final 11 points of the first half to take a 24-21 lead.

Freshman guard Addie McLaughlin had three consecutive 3-pointers during the 11-0 stretch to close the first in which Regina held Hinton scoreless for the final 4:43 of the half.

“I knew I had to shoot the ball more during this game and we were going to need it,” McLaughlin said. “We just came up a little short. They are a really good team.”

The game remained even for the first 14 minutes of the second half.

Hinton led 36-35 after the third quarter and took a 45-42 lead on a Doeschot 3-pointer with 4:28 remaining.

Regina evened the game on a Miller 3-pointer from the top of the key with 2:45 to play.

That would be the final point for Regina.

“We made some adjustments at the half but it was just a game of runs and we didn’t take the next step when we needed to,” Rogers said. “We had a hard time getting that stop or getting a clean look when we needed.”

Doeschot gave Hinton the lead for good at 48-45 with a conventional 3-point player after she put back her own miss with 1:34 remaining.

The junior guard made a free throw with 32 seconds remaining and score a run out layup in the final seconds to secure the win.

Hinton finished with a 46-27 rebounding edge that led to 10 second chance points and outscored Regina 26-12 in the paint.

“Their downhill attack game we just couldn’t stop it and then we didn’t box out,” Rogers said. “It was just second chance opportunities. We never could get over the hump of getting the stop we needed or getting a clean look on the other end.”

Addie McLaughlin led Regian with 19 points and finished 5-of-7 from 3-point range.

Miller had nine points, six rebounds and four assists and senior Caitlin Martin had seven points and six rebounds.

The all-time leading scorer in Regina history, Miller helped the Regals to an 84-17 record and three state tournament appearances in her four-year career.

“It’s the points that people talk about but I am just so grateful I got to play for this program and with all these girls and my coaches,” Miller said. “I had the best team and the best coaches and I just feel really grateful for that.”

Hinton                        14   7   15  15  –  51

Regina                        11  13  11  10  –  45

Hinton (51) – Addy Pigott 3-6 0-0 7, Karlyn Kovarna 1-7 1-4 4, Sydney Doeschot 9-19 4-5 24, Addison Glass 2-11 0-0 5, Raelyn Kempema 5-9 1-1 11, Keely Derochie 0-2 0-0 0, Totals 20-54 6-10 51.

Regina (45) – Morgan Miller 3-14 1-2 9, Caitlin Martin 2-7 2-2 7, Ella McLaughlin 2-9 0-0 5, Addie McLaughlin 7-16 0-2 19, Adalee Klein 1-2 1-1 3, Ella Keune 0-1 1-2 1, Maggie Sueppel 0-0 1-2 1, Totals 15-49 6-11 45.

3-point field goals – Hinton  5-15 (Pigott 1-2, Kovarna 1-2, Doeschot 2-5, Glass 1-5, Kempema 0-1), Regina 9-23 (Miller 2-7, Martin 1-3, E. McLaughlin 1-5, A. McLaughlin 5-7, Keune 0-1). Rebounds – Hinton 46 (Kempema 14), Regina 27 (Miller 6, Martin 6). Assists – Hinton 10 (Doeschot 4), Regina 10 (Miller 4). Turnovers – Hinton 14, Regina 9. Total fouls – Hinton 11, Regina 12. Fouled out – Regina (Klein). Technical fouls – None.

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