Pat Harty

Your Prep Sports 

IOWA CITY – The Regina girls basketball team showed on Friday against Bellevue that it's not how you start a game that ultimately matters, but rather how you play the final 28 ½ minutes.

The Regals overcame a poor start in which they were held scoreless for more than four minutes to defeat Bellevue 46-30 in a Class 2A regional semifinal at Regina.

Regina was trailing 7-0 when head coach Mary Halvorsen called a timeout with 4 minutes, 31 seconds left in the first quarter.

Whatever Halvorsen said worked as the Regals outscored Bellevue 9-0 to finish the first quarter. Regina continued to build on its lead in the second quarter, outscoring Bellevue 16-9 during that eight-minute period to lead 25-16 at halftime.

“I basically told them to calm down and play our stuff, Halvorsen said when asked what she said during the first timeout. “We were being so back on the 3-point line, and I said we’ve got to be more aggressive and assertive to the hoop. The middle of the lane is wide open and we’ve got to get it where the good stuff happens.

“So once we get the short corner and those high-low actions, and we made shots, that obviously helps.”

Regina also picked up the intensity on defense and started clogging passing lanes and trapping and forcing turnovers on the perimeter, and that led to some easy baskets in transition.

“We defensively locked in and we kind of understood ball pressure was the key to really getting those turnovers for us,” Halvorsen said. “Yeah, that was the talk. That was the pep talk and it worked out.”

Regina improved to 16-7 and will face top-ranked Cascade (24-0) on Wednesday with a trip to the state tournament on the line. Bellevue finished the season with a 13-10 record.

“We just got to keep practicing the way we’ve been practicing and preparing, both coaching staff and the players, and then we’ll be ready to go as best as we can,” Halvorsen said.

Junior Annie Gahan led Regina with 15 points, while her sister, senior Elly Gahan, finished with 8. The Gahan sisters combined to score 10 of Regina’s 16 points in the second quarter.

The other six points came on back-to-back 3-point baskets by senior Stephanie Stenger and freshman Grace Gaarde.

“We started off a little slow and that’s kind of normal for us,” Annie Gahan said. “So we just wanted to come out and attack and get those shots.”

Annie Gahan is happy to have her sister back from an injury that caused her to miss some games during the regular season.

“Just me personally, I just get more confidence having her out there, like sister-telepathy,” Annie Gahan said. “So just having her out there makes me more comfortable.”

It was another pair of sisters that ignited Regina’s defense as Grace Gaarde and senior Claire Gaarde both forced numerous turnovers after the initial timeout.

Bellevue only scored 23 points over the final three-and-a-half quarters after bolting to the early 7-0 lead. Bellevue also didn’t attempt any free throws during the game as Regina was only called for eight fouls.

“All these kids are multi-sport athletes, but they’re soccer players so they’re always active defensively, hands, feet, whatever they can do,” Halvorson said of the Gaarde sisters. “They’re sound athletic kids who play defense well for us and they get active and they get steals.

“I thought we all played pretty well defensively, denial defense when we needed it and got steals and created deflections. All around, positive stuff.”

Bellevue   7   9   6    8   –  30

Regina     9   16  9   12  –  46

Bellevue (30) – Lindsey Banowitz 4-12 0-0 9, Teresa Paulsen 3-7 0-0 7, Brianna Laughlin 0-2 0-0 0, Maddie Schmidt 2-6 0-0 4, Mariah Hueneke 1-6 0-0 2, Sally Paulsen 2-5 0-0 4, Audrey Wedeking 0-4 0-0 0, Ka’Lynn DeShaw 1-2 0-0 2, Kalesia DeShaw 1-3 0-0 2, Kenna Duesing 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 14-47 0-0 30.

Regina (46) – Annie Gahan 6-15 2-2 15, Claire Gaarde 1-4 0-0 2, Samantha Greving 2-7 3-5 7, Grace Gaarde 3-6 0-0 8, Elly Gahan 4-9 0-2 8, Stephanie Stenger 2-4 0-0 6, Abby Clark 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 18-47 5-9 46.

3-point goals – Bellevue 2 (Banowitz, Teresa Paulsen); Regina 5 (Grace Gaarde 2, Stephanie Stenger 2, Annie Gahan. Fouls – Bellevue 7, Regina 8.

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