Mediapolis gets back at Raiders

DES MOINES -- They're good anyway.   But the Mediapolis Bullettes were very good and highly motivated Tuesday afternoon, and that was a combination too tall to tackle.   The fourth-ranked Bullettes avenged a regional-semifinal loss from last year, taking control midway through the first quarter and maintaining it throughout a 61-43 victory over No. 5 Williamsburg in a Class 3A quarterfinal at the girls' state basketball tournament at Wells Fargo Arena.   "We just came out focused," said Mediapolis' Rachel Holsteen. "We were so happy we got to play them. When we knew we had (qualified), we were thinking, we want to play Williamsburg."   Last year, Williamsburg came back from an 18-point deficit to break the Bullettes' hearts. Not this time.   Holsteen and Andrea Larson both made 9 of 10 shots from the floor, and the Bullettes (24-1) hit 56 percent.   "We didn't play the same defense that we had played all year," said Williamsburg point guard Paige Greiner, a four-year starter who will continue her career at Drake University. "This is definitely tough to take. We can play a lot better than we did today."   A Wamac Conference co-champion, Williamsburg retired at 22-3.   Mediapolis, meanwhile, gets its shot at No. 1 MOC-Floyd Valley (24-1) in a semifinal at 5 p.m. Thursday. The Dutch handled Center Point-Urbana, 69-42, Tuesday.   Greiner scored 20 points to lead the Raiders. Her drive to the basket tied the game, 8-8, midway through the first quarter.   It was all Mediapolis from that point on.   The Bullettes scored the next nine points, capped by a 3-pointer by Darby Massner, and enjoyed a 32-18 cushion at intermission.   This time, this year, there was no letdown. It was 44-20 midway through the third quarter, and the margin hovered around 20 points the rest of the way.   Holsteen scored 21 points, Larson 18. And the Bullettes outrebounded the Raiders by a 36-20 margin.   "Rebounding was an issue for us all year. It was definitely an issue today," said Williamsburg Coach Aaron Feddersen."We didn't do enough to keep them off the boards, and it's tough to win when you give up that many points. We didn't stop the drive, and when they missed, they cleaned it up."   Tina Lane added eight points for Williamsburg.  

MEDIAPOLIS 61, WILLIAMSBURG 43  

Class 3A Quarterfinal, at Wells Fargo Arena  

WILLIAMSBURG (43): Sadie Ritchie 0-2 0-0 0, Tina Lane 4-11 0-1 8, Olivia Bigbee 0-2 0-2 0, Claire Simmons 1-4 0-2 3, Paige Greiner 10-16 0-0 20, Kelsa Berkland 1-1 0-0 2, Jess Miller 1-1 0-0 2, Maeve Broeg 2-4 1-1 5, Meghan Pounds 0-0 0-0 0, Katie Eichhorn 1-1 1-2 3, Haylee Huedepohl 0-3 0-0 0, Olivia Doehrmann 0-0 0-0 0, Brette McKown 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 20-47 2-8 43.  

MEDIAPOLIS (61): Darby Massner 4-12 0-1 10, Ashley Hedges 3-6 0-1 6, Rachel Holsteen 9-10 3-4 21, Andrea Larson 9-10 0-0 18, Heidi Hillyard 2-7 2-4 6, Abby Eberhardt 0-2 0-0 0, Savannah Keitzer 0-0 0-0 0, Allie Massner 0-0 0-0 0, Johnna Latty 0-0 0-0 0, Haley Thie 0-0 0-0 0, Katie Coates 0-0 0-0 0, Lily Johnson 0-1 0-0 0, Ashley Machholz 0-0 0-0 0, Kara Brown 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-48 5-10 61.  

Halftime: Mediapolis 32, Williamsburg 18.

3-point goals: Williamsburg 1-9 (Ritchie 0-1, Lane 0-1, Simmons 1-1, Greiner 0-3, Huedepohl 0-1, McKown 0-2), Mediapolis 2-9 (D.Massner 2-6, Hedges 0-2, Johnson 0-1).

Team fouls: Williamsburg 13, Mediapolis 12.

Fouled out: none.

Rebounds: Williamsburg 20 (four with 3), Mediapolis 36 (Hillyard 13).

Assists: Williamsburg 4 (Greiner 2), Mediapolis 19 (Hedges, Holsteen 5).

Steals: Williamsburg 5 (Simmons 2), Mediapolis 5 (D.Massner 3).

Turnovers: Williamsburg 10, Mediapolis 12.