March 19, 2024

PCM blocks Trojans, advances to girls state tournament

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BONDURANT — It was fitting that a team that has relied so heavily on defense this season comes up with a huge defensive play at the end of regulation Saturday during a Class 3A Region 8 championship game at Bondurant-Farrar High School.

It also was fitting that the player making the defensive play was a former West Marshall student.

Freshman Regan Freland, who led the Class 3A No. 11 Mustangs with 15 points, blocked an attempted game-tying 3-pointer by Isabelle Gradwell as time expired, and the swat sent PCM to a 52-49 victory.

“We’ve been primarily a zone defensive team this year, but we went to all man-to-man after West Marshall got off to a hot start,” PCM coach Jeff Lindsay said. “It told them in a timeout late in the game that we were not going to give up a 3-pointer. The defense they played on that final possession before and after the timeout was the best they played all year. They just didn’t make a mistake, and West Marshall had no room to to take a shot.”

The win clinches PCM a spot in the Iowa High School Girls State Basketball Tournament next week at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines. It will be the fourth state basketball tournament in program history and the first since 2007.

The Mustangs will take a four-game win streak into the state tournament where they face top-ranked and undefeated Sioux Center (24-0) at 11:45 a.m. on Feb. 28. The winner advances to a 3A semifinal at 5 p.m. on March 2.

“We are excited,” Lindsay said. “I’m not sure if its set in yet. I am happy for the girls. This is a good group. They have been steady all year and have stayed the course and kept going no matter what happens.”

The Mustangs had to rally from another slow start. The Trojans (20-4) came out firing from outside, and Gradwell’s three first-quarter 3-pointers gave West Marshall a 14-4 lead early.

PCM rallied with a 5-0 run and trailed 14-9 after the first quarter. A 9-0 run in the span of 90 seconds in the second quarter propelled the Mustangs to a 22-21 lead. The back-and-forth battle continued into the second half.

The game was tied at 31-all at halftime. West Marshall made seven 3-pointers in the first half. The Trojans made nine in the game and only put in eight 2-pointers.

“It wasn’t so much that we came out slow,” Lindsay said. “They just came out hot. We contested the shots, but they just knocked them down.”

West Marshall scored nine points in the first three minutes of the third quarter, but PCM’s defense held the Trojans scoreless for the final five minutes of the period. The drought actually spilled over into the fourth quarter. West Marshall didn’t scored for eight total minutes, and a 10-0 run by PCM tilted the momentum back to the Mustangs.

“I think (West Marshall) wore down a bit,” Lindsay said. “As the game progressed on, they weren’t getting many shots up. They tried to slow it down.”

PCM led by four after three quarters, but West Marshall rallied to lead 47-44 with four minutes to go in the game. There were 11 lead changes in the game.

The Mustangs (20-4) regained the lead with two minutes to play. Senior Kayla Jennings buried a 15-foot jumper with 49.2 seconds to play to push the advantage to three points.

West Marshall had the ball for the final 49 seconds but could not get up a shot and called timeout with 8 seconds on the clock. Out of the timeout, the Trojans tried to get an open look for Gradwell, but her game-tying shot from long range was blocked by Freland.

PCM held West Marshall to 18 points in the second half.

Lindsay complimented PCM’s crowd after the game, saying the atmosphere was part of the reason the Mustangs came out on top.

“The crowd was intense,” Lindsay said. “It was the loudest venue I’ve been in as a coach and a player. There were times when I’d call a play, and the girls couldn’t hear me. I looked back at my assistants and asked them why they couldn’t hear me, and they told me they couldn’t me either. The girls definitely fed off the energy in the building.”

Freland, who transferred from West Marshall to PCM in seventh grade, finished with 15 points, four rebounds, three assists, two steals and one big block.

Senior Katie Vande Wall added 13 points and seven rebounds, Jennings chipped in 11 points, five rebounds and three assists and senior Kaylee Townsend scored six points, grabbed six boards and blocked two shots.

All seven players in PCM’s primary rotation scored at least two points. Senior Lexi Timmins put in three points and had two assists and two steals. Seniors Rachel Stafford and Bailey Brodersen each scored two points.

Gradwell, who was playing in her second game since breaking her fibula on Jan. 10, scored 20 points to lead all scorers. Brooke Snider added 13 points for the Trojans, who started 16-0 but went 4-4 in their last eight games.

“Fatigue may have been a factor,” West Marshall coach Fred Zeller said. “Isabelle played her heart out, but she hasn’t had much practice time. I can’t fault her effort. She came back from a broken leg, and plays her heart out. I feel bad for her and for all of us. We can leave with our heads up even though it hurts.”

Prairie City-Monroe 9-22-13-8 — 52

West Marshall 14-17-9-9 — 49

PCM (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP) — Freland 4/3-5-2-15, Vande Wall 6-1-3-13, Stafford 1-0-0-2, Jennings 4/1-2-0-11, Townsend 3-0-2-6, Timmins 1-1-2-3, Brodersen 1-0-0-2. TOTALS: 20/3-9-9-52.

West Marshall (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP) — Snider 4/3-2-0-13, Breja 0-0-3-0, Cripps 3/1-1-1-3, Gradwell 6/4-4-2-20, Disney 3-0-3-6, Porter 0-0-0-0, Meyer 0-0-1-0, Green 1/1-0-1-3. TOTALS: 17/9-6-11-49.