Cascade answers Regina’s surge

IOWA CITY - The second-half surge didn't come as a surprise to the Cascade Cougars. Or a stress.

'(Iowa City Regina) is too good a team not to come after you at some point,” said Cascade Coach Al Marshall. 'We knew it would come, and we'd have to withstand it.”

Class 2A seventh-rated Cascade answered every push that No. 4 Regina could muster, and claimed Tuesday's battle between River Valley Conference boys' basketball giants, 52-47, at Regina High School.

'We had certain plays, a great gameplan, and we executed exactly what we wanted to do,” said Cascade's Mitch Recker. 'We're practicing well right now. I think we're turning a corner.”

The Cougars improved to 17-2 overall (16-1 in the RVC), making the necessary plays after Regina (16-2, 13-2) slid into a 50-50 deadlock with 3:55 to play.

Devin Green hit a pair of free throws, then Reis Rausch drilled a 3-pointer to put Cascade in front - this time for good, at 45-40. The Cougars converted enough free throws at the end to hang on.

Green led all scorers with 18 points, Recker added 14 and Rausch posted 11.

Cascade held the Regals without a point for the final 7:40 of the first quarter, took its largest lead at 20-9 with 2:05 left in the second, and owned a 23-16 advantage at halftime.

'I thought we had them early,” Recker said. 'We got up 10 or so ... you've just got to keep playing the whole game.”

Regina rallied behind Drew Cook, who scored 11 straight Regina points as the Regals got even at 32-32, then again at 40-40.

'We executed down the stretch,” Marshall said. 'We have a lot of experience on this team. They've been in a lot of tough games and tough environments.”

Cook led the Regals with 16 points. Nick Phillips scored 13.

The teams combined for only 13 turnovers.

CASCADE 52, IOWA CITY REGINA 47

At Iowa City Regina

CASCADE (52): Reis Rausch 2-4 5-6 11, Trace Hoffman 2-7 0-0 5, Mitch Recker 7-13 0-1 14, Nolan Weber 2-2 0-0 4, Devin Green 7-16 4-5 18, Kurt Trumm 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 20-44 9-12 52.

IOWA CITY REGINA (47): Nathan Stenger 2-6 4-5 9, Ethan Suchomel 1-5 0-0 3, Nick Phillips 5-12 1-2 13, Drew Cook 7-12 2-2 16, Phil Arendt 2-5 2-2 6, Conner Brown 0-2 0-0 0, Nicholas Ziniel 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 17-42 9-11 47.

Halftime: Cascade 23, Regina 16. 3-point goals: Cascade 3-10 (Rausch 2-3, Hoffman 1-6, Recker 0-1), Regina 4-18 (Stenger 1-3, Suchomel 1-5, Phillips 2-6, Cook 0-2, Brown 0-2). Team fouls: Cascade 11, Regina 16. Fouled out: none. Rebounds: Cascade 30 (Weber 9), Regina 22 (Arendt 6), Assists: Cascade 7 (Recker 3), Regina 10 (Suchomel 4). Steals: Cascade 5 (Recker 2), Regina 2 (Phillips 2). Turnovers: Cascade 6, Regina 7.

l Comments: (319) 368-8857; jeff.linder@thegazette.com