The #1 (2A) Dike-New Hartford girls basketball team will begin its seventh consecutive and overall appearance at the state tournament by taking on #8-seed Cascade in a 2A quarterfinal Tuesday night inside Wells Fargo Arena. It’ll be the third state tournament meeting between the programs since 2018.
As the Wolverines continue their quest for a fourth consecutive state title, Head Coach Bruce Dall says his team needs to stick to the principles that have gotten them to this point.
“We’re going to do things consistently, rebound, shoot, scoring, all that stuff, but it can’t be sloppy,” Dall says. “And I thought we kind of played sloppy in that first half against AP. And that’s to their credit too. They were doing a lot of things to make it that way. But I think we’ve got to play a cleaner game. I think that we got to use our experience down there. Rebounding is a big key down there every year. It’s one of the most underrated things that people don’t talk about down at state is that. And we just have to be ready to adjust, make adjustments as we go.”
At 23-2, the Wolverines enter the state tournament with the momentum of a dominant run in regional play, which was capped by a 63-35 regional final win over Aplington-Parkersburg. A strong defensive team, DNH leads the state tournament field in steals. They’re possibly the most balanced scoring team in the field, led by Payton Petersen’s 17.7 points per game.
At 17-6, Cascade enters the state tournament after a regional tournament run that featured three close games, capped by a 50-47 win over Iowa City Regina. Dall says Cascade is a traditional state tournament team that has versatility in its lineup.
“Traditionally, they’re a 2-3 zone team. They are very well-coached, which you expect them to be. Their coach had gone through some adversity with health problems. And so, just the stuff that he’s been through and to be able to be back coaching is a really cool thing. But, they’re going to shoot the ball well. They have a freshman that shoots the ball well. They have another guard that shoots the ball well. And then they have a post that does a nice job inside. For us, we’ve just got to be us. We’ve got to make sure that we get up and down the court, push it. I think we’ll be able to run the floor against them. And I think offensive rebounding should be a factor as well.”
Molly Roling leads with 13.4 points per game, but the team is the lowest scoring in the state tournament field at just 46 points per game. The Cougars also have the highest turnover rate among state tournament teams.
The game will tip off at 6:45 p.m. with pregame coverage beginning at 6:15 on 99 The Wave. The winner will advance to Friday’s semifinal against either Sioux Central or Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont.
