Tigers win defensive battle, 36-32

MOUNT AYR — The Lenox girls started fast and held on late to knock off ninth-ranked Mount Ayr in a Class 1A regional semifinal Friday night.

The No. 15 Tigers bolted to leads of 10-2 and 15-6 in the first quarter on the way to winning a defensive battle over the Pride of Iowa champions, 36-32.

The two teams had split two regular-season matchups, with Lenox’s 60-50 home win on Jan. 28 the lone blemish on Mount Ayr’s record entering postseason play. The Raiderettes won the first matchup at home on Jan. 7, 55-51.

“We came out in man-to-man (defense) in the first game and got down 30-12,” said Lenox second-year coach Michael Barbosa. “We came out in a 1-3-1 tonight and the kids bought into it. We came out with good intensity and knocked down some good looks to get our blood flowing. Our whole goal was to speed them up and not let them get into their offensive rhythm.”

Mission accomplished.

Mount Ayr coach Thad Streit was happy with his team’s defense in holding the Tigers to 16 points lower than their season average, but said his team’s offense struggled to get untracked. Sophomore Izzy Gilbertson scored 10 of her game-high 16 points in the first half. Dannie Stewart was next-highest scorer with seven points. The Raiderettes never got their transition attack flowing.

“We were rushing shots,” Streit said. “We didn’t reverse the ball. We forced a lot. We usually do a good job of getting to the free throw line and tonight we were 5-for-8. Zoey Reed is a very good basketball player, and Funk hurt us with eight. We held (Sadie) Cox to six.”

Cox, a 5-11 senior, was instrumental in the defensive effort and on the boards, however. She finished with 15 rebounds and two blocked shots. Funk grabbed seven rebounds.

“I’ve been telling them from day one that we have to get that third, fourth and fifth scorers,” Barbosa said. “We had people step up tonight such as Izzy (Curtis), Delaney and Reese (Reed). Piper Brokaw hit two key free throws there at the end.”

The final three four minutes included some big swings in momentum. After Mount Ayr had gone ahead 27-24 in the third quarter, Lenox went on a 7-1 run to jump ahead by five, 33-28.

Mount Ayr cut it to 33-32 on Gilbertson’s drive. Zoey Reed countered with a free throw to make it a two-point spread with 56 seconds left.

Mount Ayr misfired from 3-point range, and Lenox took the alternative possession on a tie-up at the 18.1 mark. Four seconds later Lenox’s Brokaw was fouled with her team in the bonus, and the 5-6 junior sank both free throws for her only two points of the game. That escalated Mount Ayr’s urgency, now down two possessions with 14 seconds to play.

No shots developed early in the next possession and Streit called a timeout with 09.1 to play. The Tiger defense held firm to finish out the four-point victory.

Barbosa was pleased that his team withstood Mount Ayr’s third-quarter charge on its home court in a raucous regional tournament environment.

“I kept telling my girls that we have to keep shooting it,” Barbosa said. “We have too good of shooters to just keep settling for bad shots. Keep attacking. They found a way to win.”

Lenox is now one victory away from its first girls state tournament trip since 1998, the graduation year of assistant coach Jason Reed. The Tigers take on No. 6-ranked Montezuma (18-5) at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Indianola in the regional final. Montezuma defeated Melcher-Dallas, 66-26, in the other Region 6 semifinal.

Mount Ayr closed a 21-2 season and loses seniors Jaxy Knight, Breya Nickle and Allison Anderson.

“I told the girls, don’t let tonight take away from your conference championship,” said Streit, who reached his 300th career victory during the season. “It’s been a long time, 27 years, since we had a conference championship by ourselves. We’ve shared it a few times since then.”

LENOX (36) — Totals — (FG FT PTS) 14 5-9 36. Zoey Reed 3 2-4 9, Delaney Funk 4 0-0 8, Sadie Cox 3 0-2 6, Izzy Curtis 2 0-0 5, Bentley Petersen 1 1-1 3, Reese Reed 1 0-0 3, Piper Brokaw 0 2-2 2. 3-point goals — 3 (R. Reed 1, Z. Reed 1, Curtis 1). Team fouls — 8. Fouled out — none.

MOUNT AYR (32) — Totals — (FG FT PTS) 12 5-8 32. Izzy Gilbertson 7 2-4 16, Dannie Stewart 3 0-0 7, Jaxy Knight 1 1-2 5, Breya Nickle 1 2-2 4. 3-point goals — 3 (Knight 1, Nickle 1, Stewart 1). Team fouls — 17. Fouled out — None.