February 28, 2018 By Chris Varney
The Game: The #3 seeded Grinnell Tigers (22-2) will face the 7th seed Le Mars Bulldogs (18-6) in the semifinals of the Class 4A Girls State Basketball Tournament. Tip-off at the Wells Fargo Arena is scheduled for 3:15 pm on Thursday, March 1.
The Background: Grinnell beat Mason City in the first round 70-51. The 70 points is tied for the 2nd most in a Class 4A state tournament game (Marion scored 71 points in the game just before Grinnell which broke a record 70 by Sioux City Heelan in 2015). The Tigers led 46-40 at the end of the third quarter but pushed their lead to 54-44 in the first 3 minutes of the 4th quarter and rolled to their first ever victory in the state tournament. Sienna Durr led the way with 24 points, 17 rebounds and 5 assists. The rebounds were only 2 away from a 4A state tournament record of 19 set by Jess Schaben of Harlan in 2013. Kameron Moore added 22 points on 8-12 shooting. Naomi Jackson put in 16 points including 4-9 from three point land.
Like Grinnell, LeMars is making their 2nd ever state tournament appearance, the first being in 2002. The Bulldogs upset #2 Lewis Central 52-43. LeMars led 34-19 after three quarters but the Titans went on a 11-1 run to start the 4th period to make it interesting. Jaelynn Dreckman came off the bench to lead the Bulldogs with 16 points, Madison Dreckman had 13 and Jenn Schneider added 10. They shot 15-20 from the free throw line including 14-18 in the 4th quarter.
The Coaches: Grinnell’s Trent Edsen is in his 10th season with the Tigers and has a career record of 134-92. Judd Koppenrud is in his 8th season with LeMars and is 91-92 overall.
The Players: The Tigers will start the same 5 as in the first round: Durr, Moore, Jackson, Macy Harris and Megan Doty. Sienna Durr is Grinnell’s all-time leader in points (1,515), rebounds (719), and blocked shots (244). The 17 rebounds in the first round ties a Grinnell Tiger record for rebounds in a game (Maggie Wiltfang in 2012). Durr also has the Grinnell record for points in a game, scoring 39 at Pella January 19. She also has the Grinnell record for blocked shots in a game (16 vs. Knoxville on February 13, 2015). Durr has committed to play basketball for Columbia University in the Ivy League. Moore (974 points) is now 26 points away from 1,000 for her career and is the Tigers all-time leader in steals with 230. Moore is only 21 assists away from the Tigers all-time leader as well (Moore has 204 career assists, Emily Conway ’05 is the current leader with 225). Jackson has the Grinnell record for three pointers in a game (9 v. Oskaloosa on January 23, 2018) — in the same game Grinnell scored 104 points. Grinnell also has tied an Iowa state record with 20 three pointers in one game, vs. Gilbert on January 9, 2018. The Tigers lead all 4A teams in points per game (73.2) and free throw percentage (73.1%).
LeMars is led by 6’1″ Junior Madison Dreckman (18.0 ppg) who has committed to play basketball at the University of Nebraska-Kearney. Dreckman also leads the team in threes (51-143 35.7%), rebounds (6.6 rbg), assists (110) and blocked shots (30). There’s also 5’11” Senior Jenn Schneider (11.5 ppg) who is 45-97 from three point land and has committed to play for Buena Vista. 5’9″ Senior Sidney Baumgartner (9.4 ppg) is second in rebounding (3.7 rbg) and leads the team in steals with 36. Rounding out the starters are 5’7″ Senior Dakotah Owens (5.0 ppg) and 5’7″ Junior Annie Ellis (4.7 ppg). 6’1″ Sophomore Jaelynn Dreckman (7.3 ppg) comes off the bench regularly.
The Keys: LeMars was able to continue a very good Lewis Central team, keeping the Titans to shooting 28% from the field. How will they deal with the multiple weapons that Grinnell brings to the table? Mason City tried man-to-man and Grinnell drove to the basket. The Mohawks switched to zone and the Tigers hit their threes. The guess here is that the Bulldogs try zone and try to slow it down. They do not want to get into a shootout with Grinnell. The Dreckmans have size but will have to deal with Durr’s quickness inside, Sienna will probably see double teams all game long.
This is not an automatic win for the Tigers, nothing is ever automatic at the state tournament. On a typical day in the regular season, Grinnell has the advantage in every aspect but this is the state tournament. Both teams are riding high after the first round. Grinnell will need to contain the Dreckmans in the paint and identify the three point shooters on the perimeter. Madison Dreckman can go inside and outside but so can Durr and Macy Harris will be available as the Tigers toughest defender. Grinnell simply must play their game and not take their foot off the gas and Grinnell will have their first team in a high school basketball championship game in 40 years.
The Broadcast: Grinnell v. LeMars will be on 1410 KGRN and myiowainfo.com. Pre-game at 2:30, tip off at 3:15 on Thursday afternoon.