116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Class 2A No. 9 I.C. Regina girls get comeback win in OT
Jan. 24, 2015 9:34 pm
SOLON - From the first half to the second half, the Class 2A No. 9 Iowa City Regina girls basketball team seemed to switch identities with Solon.
The Lady Spartans (11-4) had locked the Lady Regals (13-2) down in the first half, forcing eight turnovers and holding them without a field goal until 6:35 left in the second quarter. But in the second half, Regina used a motion offense to wear down the Solon defense and switched to a 1-2-2 zone that forced the Spartans to beat them from outside.
After a comeback from down nine at the half, the Regals had to take it to overtime, but eventually pulled away to win, 49-43.
'At halftime we talked about getting to the rim more instead of settling for 3s, but also keeping them away from the rim and defending better,” said Regina Coach Matt Bolger. 'We defended better at times, but it wasn't perfect. And offensively, we were more aggressive.
'If one shot goes in, the next two usually do. If one shot misses, the snowball starts going. Whether that's our youth or what, I don't know what it is. We're very streaky.”
It was the second game in as many days for Solon, who won Friday night against Maquoketa, 37-29.
Coach Tony Nicol said fatigue was the chief factor in the second half for his girls, and why they didn't have the same fire defensively to stop the Regals quick-moving offense.
And as frustrated as his team was with the loss, he said they have to learn something from the toll these two games took, as Solon has back-to-back games again Monday and Tuesday against Mount Pleasant and West Delaware.
'To be honest, we played on the road at Maquoketa, got back late (Friday) night, and I think that showed in the second half,” Nicol said. 'I think our heart was there, I just think the legs couldn't keep up.”
Bolger said he could relate.
He's had to go through that in the past, and saw the same gassed Spartans team Nicol did. Capitalizing on that to even the score, then taking care of business in overtime was exactly what he felt his girls needed for the rest of their season.
His message to them wasn't a light one, and the weight the win carries is just as big.
'I think we kind of flipped the switch at half. Maybe it'd have been different if we were playing back to back, but thankfully we didn't,” Bolger said. 'I told the girls at halftime I thought this was the defining moment of our season. We're either going to put this together and go on a run or we're going to free fall.
'What I think this (win) means is we're starting to figure some things out. We're learning along the way and getting wins as we do it.”
AT SOLON
IOWA CITY REGINA (49): Mary Crompton 3-10 1-2 9, Sarah Lehman 2-4 4-5 8, Kennedy Brown 1-3 3-4 5, Cameron Verducci 1-9 2-2 5, Hannah Stein 3-7 3-4 9, Greyson Dumont 1-3 2-2 5, Katharin Dunn 0-0 0-0 0, Lauren Gaarde 2-5 1-2 6, Christina Hora 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 13-41 18-23 49.
SOLON (43): Nicole Oberthien 2-7 2-4 6, Ali Herdliska 3-11 3-4 10, Hannah Bluder 5-12 0-1 11, Josie Durr 3-9 1-2 7, Shelby Gunnells 2-6 3-4 7, Dakota Doyle 0-3 0-1 0, Madi Shafer 1-1 0-1 2, Emma Moss 0-1 0-0 0, Alli Prybil 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 16-51 9-17 43.
Halftime – Solon 24, Iowa City Regina 15. 3-point goals – Regina 5-20 (Crompton 2-8, Verducci 1-8, Dumont 1-2, Gaarde 1-2). Solon 2-18 (Oberthien 0-3, Herdliska 1-7, Bluder 1-5, Durr 0-1, Doyle 0-1, Prybil 0-1). Rebounds – Regina 28 (Stein 7). Solon 24 (Herdliska 7). Total fouls – Regina 17, Solon20. Fouled out – Herdliska, Durr (Solon). Turnovers – Regina 12, Solon 11.
l Comments: (319) 368-8884; jeremiah.davis@thegazette.com