When the #1 (2A) Dike-New Hartford girls basketball team won the Class 2A state championship last weekend, they pulled off a historic feat.
The championship was the fourth straight, a streak that began in 2021. Only one other IGHSAU team previously accomplished the feat when Ankeny won four consecutive titles in the 2000s. Audubon also won four straight state championships before the creation of the IGHSAU in the 1920s.
Head Coach Bruce Dall on the rareness of the feat.
“People are going tp look back and say, ‘Wow, I witnessed that’ or that they remember that team or their parents will talk about that team,” Dall says. “They’ll have kids and they’ll tell them and they’ll see articles of it. And it’s just unbelievable what they’ve accomplished because obviously it’s not something that’s done every day with only Ankeny doing it. It takes a lot of luck too. I mean, you’re talking about keeping kids from not being sick. We had to win three regional games and then three state games, three regional games, three state games, three regional games, three state games, three regional games, three straight games. So you’re talking, you gotta win 24. You gotta win 24 games in a row to have a four-peat. And there are too many good teams out there to do that. It’s just mind-boggling.”
Senior Payton Petersen, who was named the 2A all-tournament team captain for the fourth time, hopes the team is remembered for not only their talent, but their character displayed while dominating on the court.
“We did win seven state championships, but we’re more than that,” Peteren says. “We are great people, we’re nice people. We try to be there for people. We’re not just gonna be like, oh, we won seven state championships, da, da, da. We’re humble people, we try to be humble. So I hope that’s what they remember about us, that we’re hardworking, we’re humble, and then we won seven state championships.”
The Wolverines finished 26-2. The senior class went 103-5 in their careers.
