Western Dubuque smothers Indianola, 51-30

DES MOINES — An impressive performance, to be sure. But there was no chest-thumping by the Western Dubuque Bobcats afterward.

'We didn't play to our capability today,' Rose Simon-Ressler said. 'That's just how hard we play. We can play better than this.'

If they do, the Bobcats will be an extremely tough out.

No. 2 Western Dubuque led from wire to wire and handled No. 7 Indianola, 51-30, in a Class 4A quarterfinal at the girls' state basketball tournament Wednesday afternoon at Wells Fargo Arena.

The Bobcats (24-0) are tournament veterans now, after reaching last year's state final. They weren't wide-eyed before the game, and they weren't overly impressed with themselves afterward.

'These girls are past that stage of shock,' said Coach Amy Ostwinkle. 'They're down here on a mission. They have a goal in mind. And they're going to have to play their best basketball to get that accomplished.'

The next step is at 8:30 Thursday night, when the Bobcats face No. 6 Sioux City Heelan in a semifinal. The Crusaders (22-3) rallied for a 70-67 win over No. 3 Ballard on Wednesday.

Western Dubuque put in a typical stifling defensive effort. The Bobcats allow 31.6 points per game, and slowed the Indians (19-5), whose previous four losses had come against 5A competition.

'We added a 3-2 point zone, and the top girl came down and collapsed on (freshman Grace Berg),' said Bobcats post Megan Maahs.

Berg, who leads the Indians at 16.3 points per game, was scoreless until late in the second quarter and managed just 10 points.

'What it boiled down to was this,' said Indians Coach Bert Hanson. 'It was a tough, experienced team against a young bunch of kids who couldn't handle the pressure or the emotion of the day. We couldn't make shots.'

Indianola made just 9 of 42 shots (21.4 percent) and 9 of 21 from the line.

Still, the Bobcats believe there's another level out there to reach. If you're nitpicking, they did commit 23 turnovers and shot 10 of 24 from the line. But when you play defense like that, it blankets some deficiencies.

'We've still got a lot of work to do,' said guard Morgan Pitz. 'We'll work in hard in practice to get ready (for Heelan).'

There were no big surges in the first half, just a gradual game of pull-away. The Bobcats led 18-9 after one period, 30-17 at halftime. Simon-Ressler scored 15 of her game-high 17 points in the first half, and also finished with 10 rebounds.

Pitz scored 13 points and Maahs added 10 points and 11 rebounds despite moderate foul trouble.

WESTERN DUBUQUE 51, INDIANOLA 30 (Class 4A State Quarterfinal)

At Des Moines

INDIANOLA (30): Kristina Quijano 0-4 5-8 5, Paige Nicholson 1-8 0-0 3, Maddie Glascock 0-1 0-0 0, Haley Vesey 2-11 0-0 5, Grace Berg 4-7 2-10 10, Kayla Quijano 1-3 0-0 2, Maddie Post 0-0 0-0 0, Hannah Lester 0-1 0-0 0, Nicole Coghlan 0-0 2-2 2, Hanna Birt 0-0 0-0 0, Carrington Kuehl 1-4 0-0 3, Ellie Jensen 0-2 0-1 0, Rachel Bishop 0-1 0-0 0, Alex Talbot 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 9-42 9-21 30.

WESTERN DUBUQUE (51): Mikaela Armstrong 0-0 0-0 0, Maddy Clark 0-4 1-2 1, Morgan Pitz 5-7 2-5 13, Rose Simon-Ressler 7-12 1-5 17, Megan Maahs 3-5 4-8 10, Madison Simon 0-0 0-0 0, Bailey Ploessl 2-3 0-0 4, Abigail Dolphin 0-2 1-2 1, Jenna Willer 0-0 0-0 0, Quinn Herbst 1-1 1-2 3, Jessica Cartee 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 19-35 10-24 51.

Halftime: Western Dubuque 30, Indianola 17. 3-point goals: Indianola 3-20 (Kr.Quijano 0-2, Nicholson 1-6, Glascock 0-1, Vesey 1-5, Ka.Quijano 0-1, Kuehl 1-2, Jensen 0-2, Bishop 0-1), Western Dubuque 3-5 (Clark 0-2, Pitz 1-1, Simon-Ressler 2-2). Team fouls: Indianola 21, Western Dubuque 18. Fouled out: Nicholson. Rebounds: Indianola 31 (Kr.Quijano 9), Western Dubuque 37 (Maahs 11). Assists: Indianola 3 (Glascock 2), Western Dubuque 10 (Armstrong 4). Steals: Indianola 12 (Berg 5), Western Dubuque 11 (Clark, Maahs 3). Turnovers: Indianola 20, Western Dubuque 23.

l Comments: (319) 368-8857; jeff.linder@thegazette.com