No. 9 North Cedar beats No. 8 Monticello, draws Cascade - again

SOLON - They played ‘em in the first round of the state tournament last season, and now the North Cedar Knights have to play ‘em just to get there. Good to see you again, Cascade Cougars.

“We're happy to play them again,” North Cedar star Jordan Hay said Tuesday night, after his ninth-ranked team outslugged No. 8 Monticello, 50-42, in a Class 2A district final before about 1,500 fans. “They're a good team, we're a good team. We just have to fight and see if we can get it done.”

North Cedar (19-4) knows exactly what it'll get Saturday night in a 2A substate final at Maquoketa. Cascade (20-4) will control tempo and throw out an aggressive 2-3 zone defense.

The Knights shot their way over it in Des Moines last March, recording a 63-53 win. Can they do it again?

“We'll go back and look at last year's film and see how they try and defend,” NC Coach Scott Jackson said. “Hopefully we'll be ready, hopefully our shooters will knock down some shots.”

It was an inability to knock down any shots that ended Monticello's dream season. The Panthers (21-2) fell behind by 15 points in the first half and could never quite get all the way back, though they scrapped within five in the fourth quarter.

Monti hit just 23.6 percent from the field.

“Being on this big stage was a lot to ask of our guys,” said Monticello Coach Tim Lambert. “They've been to state, been to substate, I can't tell you the last time Monti was in a district final. We looked very tentative in the first half, missed some shots we've made all year.”

North Cedar's size - specifically 6-foot-6 Hay and 6-foot-10 center Josh Sander - gave undersized Monticello fits, though 6-foot-3 center T.J. Rienets did pick up 18 points and 10 boards. Hay had just two points at halftime but finished with 20, to go along with 21 rebounds, seven blocks and five assists.

The first half was very good to us,” Jackson said. “Jordan didn't score in the first half, but everyone else contributed. We got out and ran a little bit, and Jordan was key in dishing the ball out and getting people open. Then we got back on our heels a little bit ... We survived.”

“Got a little stressed there,” Hay said. “I just wanted us to get back in the lead (larger) and control the game.”

Here is the game boxscore:

AT SOLON

NORTH CEDAR (50): Jordan Hay 6-14 8-12 20, Josh Sander 2-2 0-0 4, Seth Bendixen 2-6 0-0 6, Josh Kintzel 0-3 0-0 0, Kyle Jackson 2-6 2-5 7, Marshall Shedeck 2-6 2-4 8, Jayden Johnson 1-2 0-0 2, Jacob Hay 1-2 0-0 3. Totals 16-41 12-21 50.

MONTICELLO (42): T.J. Rieniets 5-11 8-11 18, Tim Norton 1-8 0-1 2, Isaac Wolf 1-11 1-4 3, Chance Manternach 2-10 2-4 7, Sawyer Herman 2-11 1-2 7, Matt Holmes 1-3 0-0 3, Matt Decker 0-0 0-0 0, Kyle Menster 0-0 0-0 0, James Reth 0-0 0-0 0, Dallas Lumpa 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 13-55 12-22 42.

Halftime - North Cedar 29, Monticello 20.

3-point goals - North Cedar 6-15 (Bendixen 2-4, Kintzel 0-1, Jackson 1-4, Shedeck 2-4, Ja. Hay 1-2), Monticello 4-23 (Wolf 0-6, Manternach 1-6, Herman 2-8, Holmes 1-3).

Rebounds - North Cedar 36 (Jo. Hay 21), Monticello 41 (Rieniets 10).

Total fouls - North Cedar 19, Monticello 19.

Fouled out - Johnson.

Turnovers - North Cedar 15, Monticello 13.