Iowa girls’ state basketball 2021: A closer look at Saturday’s games

DES MOINES — Capsules for Saturday's games involving area teams at the Iowa girls' high school state basketball tournament at Wells Fargo Arena.

Class 2A championship

No. 1 Maquoketa Valley (25-0) vs. No. 2 Dike-New Hartford (25-0)

Time: 4 p.m.

Top players: Most of Maquoketa Valley's attack goes through its three seniors — Ella Imler leads at 14.4 points and 4.5 assists per game, and Taya Tucker and Emerson Whittenbaugh provide 13 points and seven rebounds apiece. Defense-oriented Dike-New Hartford is led by freshman Payton Petersen (14.1 points per game) and sophomore Ellary Knock (11.0 ppg), and has a key foreign exchange student in Paula Gonzalez.

Coaches: Scot Moenck is in his 15th year at Maquoketa Valley, where he has compiled a 274-76 record. He is 313-104 in 18 seasons overall. Bruce Dall owns a 191-48 mark in 10 years at DNH, and is 465-139 in 26 years overall, with a state title at Ackley AGWSR in 2009.

How they got here: Maquoketa Valley defeated Rock Valley in the first round, 51-35, then got two free throws from Imler with six seconds left to outlast No. 4 Nodaway Valley, 47-45 in the semifinals. Dike-New Hartford dropped No. 10 Treynor in the first round, 44-36, then used a 50-22 rebounding advantage to beat No. 3 West Branch in the semifinals, 57-47.

BC Moore computer projection: Dike-New Hartford by 13

Saturday's other games

Class 3A Championship

No. 3 Unity Christian (24-2) vs. No. 4 West Lyon (24-1), 11 a.m.

Class 4A Championship

No. 1 Glenwood (21-3) vs. No. 2 Ballard (23-1), 1:30 p.m.

Class 1A Championship

No. 1 Algona Garrigan (25-1) vs. No. 2 Newell-Fonda (25-1), 6:30 p.m.

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