2023 boys’ state basketball tournament: Thursday’s roundup

DES MOINES - Andrew Austin had 20 points and 14 rebounds, as top-seeded Central Lyon rallied to beat Pella Christian, 56-55, Thursday in a Class 2A semifinal.

The Lions (23-1) trailed by five at halftime and by one going to the fourth quarter. A Reece Vander Zee layup put Central Lyon up 49-47 with 5:16 left, and it never trailed the rest of the game.

Vander Zee added 19 points for Central Lyon, which made 8 of its 12 shots from the field in the telltale fourth.

Dane Geetings had 20 points and Tysen De Vries 11 for Pella Christian (16-10). The Eagles did have a final shot attempt, but a De Vries 3-pointer missed at the buzzer.

WESTERN CHRISTIAN 79, ROLAND-STORY 61 - Kaden VanRegenmorter had 23 points as Western Christian (22-3) ousted second-seeded Roland-Story.

The Wolfpack play fellow Northwest Iowa school Central Lyon in an attempt to win their 11th state championship. Tate VanRegenmorten added 18 points and Karsten Moret 17 for Western, which made 17 of 30 shots from the field in the second half to pull away in a game that was 34-32 at halftime.

Jonovan Wilkinson and Isaiah Naylor had 19 points each for Roland-Story (25-2).

BONDURANT-FARRAR 54, NORTH POLK 45 - The top-seeded Bluejays found a way to stay unbeaten, outscoring North Polk by a 16-6 margin in the fourth quarter to rally.

Jaxson Fried had 15 points to lead Bondurant-Farrar (25-0). Cole Miller added 12, Reed Pfaltzgraff and Colby Collison 11 each.

Reggie Postel had 16 points to lead North Polk (20-6), which made just two of 12 shots from the field in the fourth.

WEST DES MOINES VALLEY 58, PLEASANT VALLEY 51 - PV’s Cinderella run ended here, in the Class 4A semifinals.

But definitely not without a fight. Fourth-seeded Valley trailed at halftime but outscored Pleasant Valley in the third quarter, 22-2, to take the lead for good.

PV (20-6) shocked top-ranked Cedar Rapids Kennedy in Wednesday’s quarterfinal and looked good here for a half. Max Muszalski had 16 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Spartans, with Connor Borbeck 14 points and Coy Kipper 13.

Valley (20-5) got 15 points from Zay Robinson and 11 from Kiki Deng. The Tigers start four sophomores.

WAUKEE NORTHWEST 66, WAUKEE 46 - The rubber match this season between the rivals went Northwest’s way in a big way.

Cade Kelderman hit four 3s and scored 26 points to lead the Wolves (23-2) to their first trip to a state title game. Grant Tigges added 12 points, Andrew Cose and Pryce Sandfort 10 each.

Sandfort is the Iowa Hawkeyes recruit. Northwest led at halftime, 33-20.

Iowa State recruit Omaha Biliew led Waukee with 21 points. The Warriors ended with a 22-3 record.

Comments: (319)-398-8258, jeff.johnson@thegazette.com