WASHINGTON — No. 6 West Branch led from start to finish in the Class 2A Region 6 final on Wednesday night. The Bears suffocated No. 9 Van Buren County on defense, holding the Warriors to a season low in points, and knocked the Warriors out 58-38.
The Bears (21-3) advance to face No. 5 Osage (22-2) in the state quarterfinals at 8:30 p.m. Tuesday at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.
West Branch shot out to an early 11-4 lead and held an 11-6 advantage after one period. At halftime, the Bears were up 25-17.
Sasha Koenig had just five points at halftime, but lit the gym up in the second half. She hit three of her four 3-pointers in the last two quarters and helped the Bears to a 37-29 lead after three quarters. West Branch ran away with the game in the fourth.
Koenig’s 19 points led the way for West Branch. Taya Young had 15, 10 of which came in the first half. Taylor Thein scored 10 to give West Branch three double-digit scorers.
UNI commit Taryn Scheuermann had 20 points to lead Van Buren in the loss. No other Warrior scored more than six.
No. 3 North Linn 72, Van Meter 34
The Lynx dominated in Marshalltown to book a fifth state berth in seven seasons. North Linn led 17-3 after the first quarter and 37-10 at halftime.
1A: No. 4 Algona Garrigan 63, East Buchanan 46
Audi Crooks scored 21 points, while Molly Joyce added 16 points for Garrigan.
Lara Fox scored 18 points and Erica Hoffman added 13 points for East Buchanan.
Garrigan led 25-15 at halftime and scored the first six points of the second half.
No. 7 Saint Ansgar 60, No. 13 Elkader Central 51
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Central led 38-36 after three quarters but couldn’t hang on. Hannah Erickson had a game-high 26 points for Central.