Dike-New Hartford owns the glass, sidelines West Branch at girls' state basketball

DES MOINES — West Branch scrapped and fought and worked itself back in the game.

But each time the Bears threatened, Dike-New Hartford had a response. And it invariably came from the same source.

The offensive glass.

Second-ranked DNH snared 21 offensive rebounds, scored 19 second-chance (which included some third- and fourth-chance) points and eliminated No. 3 West Branch, 57-47, in a Class 2A semifinal at the girls' state basketball tournament Friday afternoon at Wells Fargo Arena.

'It's instincts and timing,' said DNH freshman Payton Petersen, who grabbed nine offensive caroms in a 19-point, 16-rebound campaign. 'I fight for position, then try to figure out whether the ball is going to be long or short, and get that rebound.'

Here's the only statistic that you need to know: Dike-New Hartford outrebounded West Branch, 50-22.

'That's the difference right there,' West Branch Coach Jarod Tylee said. 'We came back and battled, but they owned the glass.'

DNH (25-0) faces No. 1 Maquoketa Valley (25-0) — a 47-45 winner over No. 4 Nodaway Valley — for the 2A championship at 4 p.m. Saturday.

Down by as many as 12 points in the second quarter and trailing 26-17 at halftime, West Branch (21-2) made multiple charges in the second half. The Bears got within three points on a pair of occasions in the third quarter, then Rylan Druecker's 3-pointer closed the deficit to 39-38 with 7:43 left in the game.

But, keeping to the theme of the game, Petersen gathered an offensive rebound and was fouled. She made the first free throw, missed the second, which was gobbled up by a teammate, who missed the putback attempt, which was gathered by Petersen, who converted.

That ignited a 10-2 run that pushed the margin to 49-40, but the Bears had one last glimmer of hope.

Sasha Koenig hit two free throws and a 3-pointer to make it 49-45 with 3:31 to go. But Petersen got loose on the boards again to extend the margin to six, and DNH ultimately put it away from the free-throw line.

'Their rebounding was a problem for us,' said Druecker, who paced the Bears with 17 points. 'We tried to get the rebounds, but they just jumped over the top of us.'

Koenig added 11 points and seven assists, but shot 4 of 16 and committed six turnovers. Delaynie Luneckas and Taya Young scored eight points apiece.

For DNH, Petersen was complemented by foreign exchange student Paula Gonzalez (16 points, eight rebounds), Ellary Knock (10 and eight) and Sophia Hoffmann (10 and eight more).

'They trap and press, block shots,' Koenig said. 'They caused a lot of problems, trying to defend them.'

DIKE-NEW HARTFORD 57, WEST BRANCH 47

Class 2A Semifinal, at Des Moines

WEST BRANCH (47): Lexie Peak 1-2 0-0 3, Sasha Koenig 4-16 2-2 11, Delaynie Luneckas 2-8 4-4 8, Rylan Druecker 7-9 0-0 17, Taya Young 3-10 2-4 8, Sadie Smith 0-3 0-0 0, Madison Hovancik 0-0 0-0 0, Abby Westcott 0-0 0-0 0, Savannah Sexton 0-0 0-0 0, Allie Laschansky 0-1 0-0 0, Kylie Pickett 0-0 0-0 0, Bailey Donohoe 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 17-49 8-10 47.

DIKE-NEW HARTFORD (57): Ellary Knock 4-11 2-5 10, Taylor Kvale 0-1 0-0 0, Paula Gonzalez 7-12 1-2 16, Payton Petersen 6-14 7-10 19, Sophia Hoffmann 2-8 6-11 10, Jadyn Petersen 0-1 0-0 0, Addy Sohn 0-0 0-0 0, Camille Landphair 1-3 0-0 2, Maryn Bixby 0-0 0-0 0, Whitney Wauters 0-0 0-0 0, Taylor Hoehns 0-0 0-0 0, Abby Sohn 0-0 0-0 0, Taya Curtis 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-50 16-28 57.

Halftime: DNH 26, West Branch 17. 3-point goals: West Branch 5-22 (Peak 1-2, Koenig 1-10, Druecker 3-5, Young 0-4, Laschansky 0-1), DNH 1-11 (Knock 0-4, Kvale 0-1, Gonzalez 1-3, Hoffmann 0-1, Landphair 0-2). Team fouls: West Branch 17, DNH 12. Fouled out: Koenig. Rebounds: West Branch 22 (Luneckas 5), DNH 50 (Petersen 16). Assists: West Branch 12 (Koenig 7), DNH 8 (Hoffmann 3). Steals: West Branch 8 (Young 4), DNH 10 (Hoffmann 4). Turnovers: West Branch 13, DNH 20.

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