Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

VAN HORNE – Regina finally found some offensive rhythm behind standout sophomore Addie McLaughlin in the second half of its regional final on Wednesday.

But this one was all about defense from the outset for Regina.

Eighth-ranked Regina limited seventh-ranked Grundy Center to 35 percent shooting and held a 37-23 rebounding advantage in a 47-36 win over the Spartans in the Class 2A, Region 8 title game at Benton Community High School in Van Horne.

“Our defense won us the game,” McLaughlin said. “We knew we had to play defense our coach told us we had to play defense and we executed that really well.”

McLaughlin scored 17 of her game-high 24 points in the second half as Regina (19-5) advanced to the state tournament for the second consecutive season.

Regina will second-ranked Rock Valley (22-2) in a Class 2A state quarterfinal on Wednesday at 10 a.m. at the Casey’s Center in Des Moines.

“Defense wins and it wasn’t pretty in the first but you know what you go win the way it is,” Regina coach Mary Rogers said. “I told them, ‘we have to keep locking in defensively’ and they did. They played exactly the way I asked them to.”

Regina never trailed on Wednesday and its defensive was a big reason why.

The Regals held Grundy Center (21-3) to its second lowest scoring output of the season including just 12 first-half points.

Grundy Center entered the regional final averaging 54.6 points per game but couldn’t find any offensive continuity against a swarming Regina defense.

“Mary gave us a really great scout and we just followed that to a T,” Regina junior center Adalee Klein said. “We made sure we got out on shooters, that we stayed off people that don’t shoot and just played straight up good team defense.”

Klein was at the forefront of the strong Regina defensive effort.
The 6-foot-2 center blocked seven shots and was critical in holding Grundy Center junior forward Ava Mundt in check.

Mundt entered averaging a team-high 10.2 points per game but was limited to eight points on just 4-of-16 shooting.

“I knew that my job was to be a helper with all the drives,” Klein said. “I knew to stay straight up, don’t get into foul trouble and the ball came into my hands and I blocked a lot of shots tonight.”

Regina struggled to get into offensive flow early.
The Regals led 16-12 at halftime after shooting just 32 percent from the floor (7-of-22) and 2-of-9 from 3-point range in the first half.

McLaughlin lit the offensive fuse for Regina in the second half.
The sophomore guard snapped an 18-18 tie with back-to-back 3-pointers midway through the third quarter and had 10 points during a 14-5 Regal run over the final 5:49 of the quarter.

She is a stud,” Rogers said of McLaughlin “I am just super proud of everyone stepping up and doing their thing.”

Regina led 32-23 after three quarters and pushed the lead to 37-25 early in the fourth.

Grundy Center made a late push, cutting the lead to 39-33 with 3:09 remaining.
Ella Keune answered with a corner 3-pointer that ignited an 8-0 Regina run that put the game away.

“They bought in and it was a heck of a job,” Rogers said. “I am so proud of them. I am so, so proud of them.”

Maggie Sueppel had eight points and five rebounds and Klein had seven points and seven rebounds to go with her seven blocked shots.

Keune had five points and six rebounds for Regina.

Kali Aldrich had 19 points to lead Grundy Center.

Regina returns to the state tournament for the second consecutive season after three starters from last year’s 2A runner-up team.

“It’s surreal, we are so excited, we knew we could do it all along we just had to put all the pieces together,” McLaughlin said. “It’s been a long season but I am so grateful for all these teammates and coaches.”

Grundy Center                   6  6  11  13  –  36

Regina                                   9  7  16  15  –  47

Grundy Center (36) – Raelyn Steinmeyer 0-2 0-0 0, Maddy Hendershot 0-4 0-0 0, Kali Aldrich 7-11 2-3 19, Karlee Lynch 3-6 0-0 7, Caturella Brown 1-2 0-0 2, Ava Mundt 4-16 0-3 8, Trinity Jirovsky 0-1 0-0 0, Erin Richtsmeier 0-1 0-0 0, Totals 15-43 2-6 36.

Regina (47) – Jada Wiltz 1-6 0-0 3, Nora Wade 0-1 0-0 0, Ella Keune 2-4 0-0 5, Sophie Wiltgen 0-1 0-0 0, Maggie Sueppel 4-7 0-0 8, Addie McLaughlin 8-20 5-6 24, Adalee Klein 3-5 1-6 7, Totals 18-44 6-12 47.

3-point field goal – GC 4-12 (Steinmeyer 0-1, Hendershot 0-2, Aldrich 3-4, Lynch 1-2, Brown 0-1, Mundt 0-2), ICR 5-15 (Wiltz 1-4, Keune 1-2, McLaughlin 3-9). Rebounds – GC 23 (Mundt 6), ICR 37 (McLaughlin 8). Turnovers – GC 10, ICR 11. Fouled out – None. Technical fouls – None.

Did you enjoy this subscription free article? Help keep Your Prep Sports free by donating