February 26, 2018 By Chris Varney
The Game: #3 seed Grinnell Tigers (21-2) plays #6 seed Mason City Mohawks (14-9) in the first round of the 4A Girls State Basketball Tournament on Monday night at 8:30 pm
The Background: Grinnell is making its 2nd straight appearance in the state tournament and 2nd appearance overall. The Tigers lost to Xavier, Cedar Rapids 60-55 in the first round of last year’s tournament. Mason City won the state tournament in 2016, beating Epworth Western Dubuque, Keokuk and then Pella in the finals 51-44. The Mohawks did not go to state last year, finishing 11-12. Mason City will be making its 6th overall appearance at state, all 6 times in the last 8 years.
The Players: The Tigers are led by 6′ Senior Sienna Durr (21.5 ppg) who is the 3rd leading scorer in Class 4A. Durr also leads the team in rebounding at 7.3 rbg and is 11th in 4A in blocks with 31. Durr will be playing her college ball at Ivy League school Columbia University when she graduates. Grinnell also features 5’9″ Senior Kameron Moore (12.8 ppg) who leads the team in assists (82) which ranks 13th in 4A. There’s also 5’7″ Junior Macy Harris (13.1 ppg) who is second on the team in assists (81) and ranks tied for 14th in 4A and leads the team in steals (86) which ranks third in 4A. Grinnell’s three point shooting leader is 5’7″ Junior Naomi Jackson (12.1 ppg) who is 64-165 from three point land. The 64 threes are 2nd in Class 4A and the 165 attempts are 3rd. Jackson also has 65 steals which is 2nd on the team and 15th in 4A. Rounding out the starting line-up is 5’2″ Junior Megan Doty (3.7 ppg) who scored 8 points in the regional semifinals v. Carlisle and a season high 14 in the regional finals vs. Pella.
The Mohawks are led by 5’9″ Junior Megan Meyer (25.5 ppg) who leads Class 4A in scoring and ranks 4th in the state regardless of class. Meyer has 71 threes which leads Class 4A in 189 attempts for a 38% average. Meyer also leads the team in assists (69) and steals (74). Meyer has already committed to play basketball at the University of Iowa; she is the younger sister of current Hawkeye Mackenzie Meyer. The other probable starters for Mason City are 5’9″ Senior Autum Anderson (4.7 ppg); 5’9″ Junior Anna Lensing (4.7 ppg); 5’8″ Sophomore Anna Deets (10.2 ppg); and 5’8″ Senior Hannah Faktor (8.8 ppg). All 4 players will shoot the three pointer; Faktor leads the team in blocks (12).
The Keys: Both Head Coaches, Trent Edsen for Grinnell and Curt Klaahsen for Mason City, say that there are a lot of similarities between the two of them. Both teams like to press on defense. Both teams like to shoot the three on offense. Both teams are led by a Division I recruit. How each team defends the star player will be interesting. Meyer and Durr are both versatile offensive players who will take what the defense gives them so it will be real challenging for each defense to match-up with the other. Ultimately, it will be up to the complimentary players that may make a difference. Moore, Harris, and Jackson have better numbers than Deets, Faktor, and Jaeda Whitner (5.0 ppg) who comes off the bench.
Both teams will have to fight off the nerves early. Both teams will have to wait all day to play the final game on the first day of the tournament. Both teams have played tough competition. For Grinnell, 4 of their 7 non-conference opponents are in their respective state tournament. For Mason City, 8 of their 9 losses have come against ranked opponents. Still Mason City has only won 4 games against winning opponents (Des Moines East, Clear Lake and Waverly Shell Rock twice). Grinnell’s 2 losses came against Indianola, in the 5A tournament field.
In my opinion there are few keys for Grinnell to win: 1) Defending the three point shooters. Meyer will get her points but the Tigers cannot let anybody else get hot from the outside. 2) Feed it to Durr early and often. Sienna likes the big stage and Mason City does not have anybody that easily handle her. And 3) Relax and have fun. Grinnell was nervous last year but this year should be a different story.
The Broadcast: Coverage simulcast on Energy 106.7 FM, 1410 KGRN and myiowainfo.com. Pre-Game at 8:05 pm.