“Scrappy” Panorama ends Iowa City Regina’s run in 2A girls’ state basketball quarterfinals

DES MOINES — There’s no real way to quantify it, of course, but the Regina Regals were stricken by Panorama’s scrappiness.

“That’s the word I would use for them — scrappy. Their hands are super-active,” said Regals Coach Mary Rogers. “We weren’t able to find a rhythm.”

Fourth-ranked Panorama forced No. 6 Iowa City Regina into extended scoring droughts at the start of the third and fourth quarters, and earned its first five-player girls’ basketball state-tournament victory, 46-38, in a Class 2A quarterfinal Tuesday night at Wells Fargo Arena.

“We wanted to play our hardest. We wanted to be that first team that won a game here,” said Panorama’s Payton Beckman, who scored 20 points. “We wanted to get out on their 3-point shooters, and we wanted to show people what we had.”

» Photos: Iowa City Regina vs. Panorama in 2A state quarterfinals

Panorama (25-1) moves into Friday’s 2A semifinal opposite No. 1 Dike-New Hartford (23-2); tipoff is 10 a.m.

The Panthers held Regina (20-5) to 4-of-21 shooting from the floor and forced the Regals into 19 turnovers. Five of them came directly from steals by Jaidyn Sellers.

“They were an aggressive team. They were here for a reason,” Regina’s Grace Gaarde said. “We knew it would be difficult. Shots weren’t falling for us like they usually are.”

Lily Simpson said, “We knew what to expect with them, but couldn’t get through it. We had to work for every shot.”

Down 11 points with five minutes left, Regina made a last-ditch comeback bid, getting within 39-35 on Simpson’s offensive rebound and basket with 2:36 to go.

But the Panthers answered with the next seven points and advanced.

Three stretches cost the Regals.

The first came in the second quarter, when Regina owned a 15-13 lead. Panorama scored 11 consecutive points to gain the upper hand, as it turned out, for good.

Down 26-21 at halftime, Regina missed its first 10 shots of the third quarter and went scoreless for nearly six minutes. The Regals did regroup and get within 32-26, only to surrender the first five points of the fourth period.

Simpson paced the Regals with 10 points and eight rebounds. Alli Dillon added eight points, Alli Clark six.

Regina brings back three starters for 2022-23.

“We were definitely underdogs at the beginning of the season,” Gaarde said. “We didn’t even know our own strength at the beginning.”

Panorama 46, Iowa City Regina 38

Class 2A State Quarterfinal, at Des Moines

IOWA CITY REGINA (38): Alli Dillon 3-8 0-0 8, Grace Gaarde 1-8 2-2 4, Morgan Miller 1-6 0-0 3, Alli Clark 3-5 0-0 6, Lily Simpson 5-12 0-0 10, Natalie Gahan 0-0 0-0 0, Madelyn Greve 0-0 0-0 0, Ella McLaughlin 1-1 0-0 3, Caitlin Martin 0-0 0-0 0, Morgan Squiers 0-0 0-0 0, Hope Simpson 2-5 0-0 4, Gabby Sueppel 0-0 0-0 0, Reese Litton 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 16-45 2-2 38.

PANORAMA (46): Mia Waddle 0-0 0-0 0, Payton Beckman 7-17 5-6 20, Laci Rishel 2-10 1-2 6, Angel Poldberg 4-6 0-1 9, Jaidyn Sellers 2-7 4-4 8, McKenna Burns 0-0 0-0 0, Zoey Hambleton 1-2 0-0 2, Kaitlin Kent 0-0 0-0 0, Tyme Boettscher 0-1 1-2 1, Jazmyn Sellers 0-0 0-0 0, Gabby Welberg 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 16-43 11-15 46.

Iowa City Regina 10 11 5 12 — 38

Panorama 13 13 6 14 — 46

3-point goals: Regina 4-21 (Dillon 2-6, Gaarde 0-5, Miller 1-6, Clark 0-2, McLaughlin 1-1, H. Simpson 0-1), Panorama 3-13 (Beckman 1-6, Rishel 1-4, Poldberg 1-1, Hambleton 0-1, Boettcher 0-1). Team fouls: Regina 17, Panorama 9. Fouled out: none. Rebounds: Regina 32 (L. Simpson 8), Panorama 25 (Sellers 7). Assists: Regina 8 (Miller, L. Simpson 2), Panorama 7 (Beckman, Rishel 3). Steals: Regina 3 (three with 1), Panorama 10 (Sellers 5). Turnovers: Regina 19, Panorama 11.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com