Sports

Top-ranked Unity Christian rolled to a 53-34 win over Cascade in their in the opening game of the Class 2A tournament.

Chanda Zomermaand scored 19 points and the Knights shut down the Cougars to remain unbeaten at 25-0. The Knights move on to the upper bracket semifinal on Thursday morning in an 11:45 opening tip off.

Unity dominated on the defensive end against a team known for defense. The Knights were just the sixth team to score more than 40 points against the Cougars, who finish 21-4.

Anna Kiel added 14 points and eight rebounds for Unity, while Kassidy De Jong grabbed 11 rebounds and scored eight points.

Unity limited Cascade to three field goals in the first half and finished with a 40-17 rebounding edge, including 13 offensive rebounds that resulted in 13 second-chance points.

Carolyn Trumm scored 10 points and Claire Molony had nine for Cascade, which made its third consecutive trip to the state tournament.

Des Moines Iowa — The Iowa State Girls Basketball Tournament opens Monday at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines. Two of the area teams will be in action on opening day.

Central Lyon will open our broadcast coverage taking an 18-6 record into the 1A quarterfinals against top ranked Burlington Notre Dame who comes in at 23-1. The Lions are led by Angel Rasamussen and Sarah Halse both averaging 13 points a game. Also averaging double figures is Ivy Siepereda with 10 points a game.

Burlington Notre Dame is led by Taylor Hickey with 19 a game and Riley Kilbride averaging 17 points a game.

Pregame begins at 11:30 Monday morning with tip off scheduled for 11:45.

Later in the day Monday top ranked and 24-0 Unity Christian will open play in the 2A quarterfinals. They square off against #13 Cascade who enters the tournament at 21-3. Unity has three players averaging double figures led by Anna Keil at 15 a game. Kassidy DeJong averages 14 a game with Chanda Zomermaand hitting for 13 points a game.

Cascade has one player averaging double figures. That’s Carolyn Trumm with a 12 point per game average.

Pregame Monday evening will be at 4:45 for a scheduled 5pm opening tip.

Western Christian will wait until early Tuesday morning for their opener. The second ranked Wolfpack open against 12th ranked Iowa City Regina. The three time defending State Champion Wolfpack and Regina both enter the tournament at 21-3.

Western has two players averaging double figures. Jamie Gesink is hitting for 13 a game. Kenzie Bousema averages 11 points per game.

Regina has one player averaging double figures that’s Mary Crompton with an 11 point a game average.

Pregame Tuesday morning is set for 9:45 with the opening tip at 10:00.

We’ll bring you coverage of all three area teams live from Des Moines through the run of the tournament on KIWA FM 105.3. We’ll stream the action as well from www.kiwaradio.com.

Spencer Iowa –- The South O’Brien Wolverines are State Tournament bound for the first time following their 54-42 win over Greattinger Terrill Ruthven Ayrshire in the Substate 1 game at Spencer Saturday night.

After the Wolverines win, a happy head coach Kiley Yates talked first about the efforts of his players and also said the win was for the alumni as well.

The Wolverines jumped out to an 11-4 first quarter lead sinking a trio of three point buckets. The Titans found their shooting touch and cut the lead to 24-21 at halftime. At the end of the third quarter the South O’Brien lead was down to 32-31 with the final 8 minutes to go in what was anybody’s ballgame. In the fourth quarter the Wolverines would sieze the opportunity in what coach Yates called a “shot makers game.”

In the fourth quarter the free throw line was the difference just like it had been on Thursday night in the District final. As a team South O’Brien went 13-of-16 at the line in the fourth quarter. They were 24-of-29 on the night.

Dallas Jalas led the way with a game high 24 points. He led the way at the free throw line as well with a13-of-14 performance that included 6-of-6 in the fourth quarter. Also in double figures was Damon Struve with 13 points. He went 5-of-6 at the line.

The Titans were led by Andy Geelan with 17 points and Connor Sturgill with 12. With the win 8th ranked South O’Brien moves on to the State 1A Tournament with a 22-3 record. Greattinger Terrill ends the season at 19-5.