Pat Harty

Your Prep Sports 

IOWA CITY – Senior Night at Regina quickly turned into a night to remember for Regina guard Casey Daniel.

In addition to starting, Daniel made his first four shots from the field, and 5-of-6 field-goal attempts overall, as Regina pounded West Liberty 80-33 at Regina.

Two of Regina’s first three baskets of the game were 3-pointers by Daniel. The senior made four treys overall, and Regina made 15 as a team, including five by star senior guard Masen Miller.

West Liberty started the game in a box-and-one on Miller and that often left Daniel wide open from 3-point range, and Daniel took advantage of the space.

“They cover Masen and they help on him all the time, so that means your shot is going to be open and you’ve just got to step up with confidence,” said Daniel, who finished with 15 points.

Daniel made his third 3-pointer to give Regina a 17-4 lead, and then Miller hit another trey that expanded the lead to 20-6 with 2 minutes, 44 seconds left in the first quarter.

West Liberty never mounted a serious threat after that as Regina led 51-19 at halftime.

Daniel’s ability to make 3-point shots could be a huge factor down the stretch as defenses continue to blanket Miller, and with junior forward Ashton Cook out indefinitely with a leg injury.

Miller still found enough space to score 28 points, including 20 in the first half.

“Every part of the game is important when you have Ashton out,” Daniel said of Regina’s second leading scorer. “But we’ll do what we can.”

Regina coach Jared Galpin was pleased with how Daniel and the other Regina players took advantage of the space created by Miller’s presence on the court.

“We’ve been working on some stuff because we know that Masen is going to create space for everybody to get shots down and to give these guys confidence,” Galpin said.

Regina had 10 players that scored at least one point in Friday’s game.

West Liberty was led in scoring by senior Gavin Chown with 12 points. He was the only West Liberty to score in double figures.

West Liberty     10   9    6    7  –  33

Regina              25  26  15  14  –  80

West Liberty (33) – Caleb Wulf 1-5 0-0 2. Brodie Kilburn 1-4 2-5 6, Austin McMichael 1-5 0-0 2, Gavin Chown 5-10 2-3 12, Chancellor Thrasher 1-2 1-2 3, Hector Adames Echevarria 3-7 0-0 7, Tyler Jones 0-0 1-2 1, Jofrael Rodriguez-Agosto opo opo 0, Bryson Iske 0-0 0-0 0, Ty Brooks 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 12-33 6-11 33.

Regina (80) – Masen Miller 11-19 1-3 28, Chase Becker 2-5 2-2 6, Josh Dutchik 3-5 2-2 8, Casey Daniel 5-6 1-2 15, Nic Hein 1-4 0-0 3, Danny Molony 2-3 0-0 6, Coltrae Kerschen 0-2 1-2 1, Andrew Wiese 2-2 0-0 4, Carson Jensen 1-2 0-0 3, Kyle Schooley 0-2 0-0 0, Jack Brandt 2-2 0-0 6, Cameron Lehman 0-0 0-0. Totals 29-52 7-11 80.

3-point goals – West Liberty 1 (Hector Adames Echevarria); Regina 15 (Miller 5, Daniel 4, Molony 2, Brandt 2, Hein Jensen. Fouls – West Liberty 8, Regina 16.

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