Redhawks right in it until late drought

 DES MOINES -- They were right there.Down two points with 6:42 left against the No. 1 team in the state, the North Tama Redhawks were feeling good and smelling an upset.They didn't score again.Top-ranked North Mahaska put on the clamps, scored the final 10 points and pulled away for a 47-35 victory in a Class 1A quarterfinal at the girls' state basketball tournament Monday evening at Wells Fargo Arena."I thought we had a shot, but we just couldn't finish," North Tama's Allison Zobel said.North Mahaska (26-0) will face No. 5 West Sioux in a semifinal at 8:30 Wednesday night. West Sioux (25-1) rallied from an eight-point deficit to defeat Lynnville-Sully, 54-43, Monday."Team defense wins games at this level," said Warhawks Coach L.E. Moore. "And we played some very good defense at the end of the game."No. 13 North Tama (21-5) was making its first state appearance. But for 26 minutes, the Redhawks played nothing like rookies."So many people said we didn't belong here," said backup Sydney Fehr. "That's just crap."The Redhawks were down 35-31 entering the fourth quarter, and Zobel's two free throws made it 37-35 with 6:42 left.But that was as close as they got.

"I liked where we were at," North Tama Coach Laube said. "Playing No. 1, with a chance at the end. But we went through a tough stretch offensively, and couldn't get good looks at the basket."Mallory Boyle scored on a quick move inside, then Hannah Ferguson converted off Kate Ray's steal to give the Warhawks a 41-35 advantage with 5:22 to go.It stayed that way until North Mahaska pulled away from the free throw line in the final minute and a half.Boyle and Abbie Agan scored 13 points apiece for the Warhawks.Zobel and Josie Youel paced the Redhawks with 10 points apiece. Fehr added nine despite a shoulder that was injured in practice last week."I thought I would have to shoot free throws left-handed, and I shot 300 of them a day to get used to it," Fehr said. "Today, I shot one right-handed, and the pain was gone. It was nothing short of a miracle."Fehr shot 10 free throws, making seven.North Tama's top player, Kailey Kladivo, was limited to six points and nine rebounds. She entered the game averaging 17.8 points and 13.9 boards."We knew we had to shut her down," Boyle said. "And we had to get a hand in the face of their outside shooters. We did what we needed to do."North Mahaska built a seven-point lead on two occasions midway through the second quarter. But Zobel hit back-to-back 3-pointers to start an 8-0 run that gave North Tama a 20-19 edge, its first (and as it turned out, only) lead since 2-0.The Warhawks led, 24-22, at halftime. North Tama got within a pair on three occasions in the second half.

NORTH MAHASKA 47, NORTH TAMA 35

At Des Moines

NORTH TAMA (35): Shayla Kopriva 0-0 0-0 0, Josie Youel 5-12 0-0 10, Allison Zobel 3-8 2-2 10, Kailey Kladivo 2-9 2-2 6, Nicole Schlicting 0-1 0-0 0, Abi Watson 0-0 0-0 0, Hannah Mesch 0-0 0-0 0, Shannon Stuart 0-0 0-0 0, Whitney Pokorny 0-0 0-0 0, Emma Knoop 0-0 0-0 0, Molly Dvorak 0-0 0-0 0, Jessi Jacobs 0-0 0-0 0, Sydney Fehr 1-7 7-10 9, Anna Kvidera 0-0 0-0 0, Sam Zobel 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 11-37 11-14 35.

NORTH MAHASKA (47): Kate Ray 2-6 3-4 8, Hannah Ferguson 2-7 0-0 5, Jenna Lacey 0-2 0-2 0, Mallory Boyle 3-11 7-10 13, Tara Smith 2-4 2-3 6, Abbie Agan 5-7 1-2 13, Hayley Spoelstra 0-1 0-0 0, Hayley LaRue 0-0 0-0 0, Allie Ferguson 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 15-39 13-21 47.

Halftime: North Mahaska 24, North Tama 22.

3-point goals: North Tama 2-3 (A.Zobel 2-2, Fehr 0-1), North Mahaska 4-12 (Ray 1-3, H.Ferguson 1-4, Agan 2-4, Spoelstra 0-1).

Team fouls: North Tama 20, North Mahaska 14.

Fouled out: A.Zobel.

Rebounds: North Tama 34 (Kladivo 9), North Mahaska 22 (Boyle 7).

Assists: North Tama 1 (Kopriva), North Mahaska 9 (Ray 4).

Steals: North Tama 3 (Kopriva, A.Zobel, Watson), North Mahaska 12 (Agan 4).

Turnovers: North Tama 20, North Mahaska 12.