Springville rolls past unbeaten Baxter for girls’ state basketball spot

VAN HORNE — Lauren Wilson has seen just about everything thrown at her this season.

The Springville senior, one of the state's top scorers, has not been bothered by much of it.

“I've seen teams try a lot of defenses against me,” she said following the Orioles' impressive 87-54 victory over previously unbeaten Baxter in a Class 1A regional final on Wednesday night at Benton Community High School. “Our scout team does a great job of getting us prepared for all different defenses.”

Wilson led an offensive explosion for No. 3 Springville (23-1). She finished with a game-high 28 points despite once again being the focal point of the Baxter defense.

“She's a senior,” said Orioles Coach Christina Zaruba of Wilson. “She's grown so much compared to the first three years I had her. Nothing fazes her. She just goes out and has fun.”

Springville is headed to the state tournament for the seventh time in the past eight seasons. The Orioles are seeded third and will face No. 6 and Tri-Rivers rival North Linn (22-2) at 6:45 p.m. next Wednesday in Des Moines. The Lynx advanced with a 62-41 win over East Buchanan.

No. 15 Baxter ends its season at 24-1.

With no real post presence to contest Wilson, Baxter resorted to a swarming defense that worked well in the first quarter. The Bolts trailed 17-12 after the first eight minutes and saw Wilson pick up two fouls.

After sitting for the final minute of the first quarter, Wilson returned and was cautious on defense. Her teammates were not, forcing several steals which ignited the offense. Springville went on an 18-5 run to open the quarter, eventually building a 45-25 lead at the break.

“I thought we finally got into a rhythm,” Zaruba said of the second-quarter explosion. “Once we figure out what we want to do defensively, our offense just seems to start flowing.”

Baxter made a quick run to open the second half, cutting the margin to 15, but consecutive 3-point baskets from Grace Matus, Savannah Nealman and Morgan Nachazel over the next minute pushed the margin out to 24 and eliminated any doubt about the outcome.

“Any given night it can be anyone on our team.” Zaruba said. “That's why we are so dangerous from the outside.”

Nachazel added 18 points for the Orioles while Matus chipped in with 11. Elie Tuhn paced the Bolts with 17.

“Obviously we can shoot 3s,” Wilson said. “Once we get going, we get going. Grace got one to go and it gave us all the confidence to shoot.”

BAXTER (54): Elie Tuhn 6 3-5 17, Mandee Selover 2 1-2 6, Emie Tuhn 3 2-4 11, Ally Padget 0 0-0 0, Lillie Vansice 6 0-0 12, Bree Buswell 2 0-0 6, Kendyl Stevenson 0 0-0 0, Abbie Meyer 1 0-1 2, Emma Ziesman 0 0-0 0, Camryn Padget 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 6-12 54

SPRINGVILLE (87): Grace Matus 4 0-0 11, Savannah Nealman 2 4-4 9, Lauren Wilson 12 2-2 28, Molly Stamp 4 0-0 9, Morgan Nachazel 6 3-4 18, Hannah March 3 0-0 7, Ashlynne Zaruba 2 0-0 4, Liz Blakely 0 0-0 0, Isabel Guerrero 0 0-0 0, Kennedy Breitfielder 0 0-0 0, Kailee Jacobs 1 0-0 2, Alivia Hoyt 0 0-0 0. Totals: 34 9-10 87.

Baxter 12 13 16 13 - 54

Springville 17 28 22 20 - 87

3-point goals: Baxter 8 (Em. Tuhn 3, El. Tuhn 2, Buswell 2, Selover). Springville 10 (Nachazel 3, Matus 3, Wilson 2, Nealman, Stamp). Total fouls: Baxter 13, Springville 13. Fouled out: none. Technical fouls: none.