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No. 10 Warriors gain Region 1 hoops final

ESTHERVILLE, Iowa — Senior center Hallie Reese and sophomore power forward Chloe Lofstrom packed a lethal 1-2 interior punch to earn the Iowa Class 2A, No. 10-ranked North Union Warriors a spot in Monday night’s Region 1 basketball championship game.

Reese delivered game-highs of 17 points and four assists to complement five boards, while Lofstrom produced 14 points, a game-best nine rebounds and three assists to pace North Union’s 63-45 triumph over the Okoboji Pioneers on Friday night in Estherville, Iowa.

North Union (20-2) advances to face defending Class 2A state champion and No. 4-ranked Hull, Western Christian (20-3) in Monday’s 7 p.m. regional final in Hartley, Iowa. Western Christian defeated West Lyon, 54-45, to gain the next round.

Okoboji ended its season with an 18-5 record.

“Now we’ve got to get ready to face a tough test in Western Christian on Monday night,” said North Union head coach Merle Tigges. “We’re going to have to continue to play strong defense and get balanced scoring across the board like we’ve done during our first two games (of the postseason).”

Tigges and the Warriors will seek to avenge last year’s season-ending loss to Western Christian in the Region 1 semifinals.

Ironically, Okoboji demonstrated its balanced scoring attack as all five starters — Kallyn Stumbo, Grace Wintz, Camry Jones, Ali Goehring and Magan Christopherson — scored to stake the Pioneers to an early 12-8 lead with 2 minutes remaining in the opening quarter.

Lofstrom, however, utilized her yeoman’s work on the glass to trigger the Warriors’ 10-3 run to close out the first frame with a three-point lead.

Lofstrom hit a putback basket before Rory McClellan came off the North Union bench to nail a go-ahead 3-pointer off one of Reese’s assists.

Christopherson countered with a trey for the Pioneers before Breanna Anderson made the regional semifinals’ third straight 3 off one of Kate Anderson’s three assists for a 16-15 North Union lead.

Reese later maneuvered between a pair of Okoboji low-post defenders to scoop home a leaner for an 18-15 lead with 31 seconds to go.

Unfortunately for the Warriors, the backcourt tandem of Breanna Anderson and Kate Anderson each were whistled for their third personal fouls during the second quarter as North Union clung to a 33-25 halftime advantage.

“To start the third quarter, we switched (from man-to-man defense) to a 2-3 zone that we haven’t played all year, and I’m not very good at teaching it,” Tigges said with a chuckle. “We had to make that defensive adjustment with our guards in foul trouble, and the strategy worked.”

Neither Anderson picked up her fourth personal in the third frame, while Reese reeled off eight points to pace the Warriors’ 12-8 scoring edge over the Pioneers during the third segment.

“Our post players (Reese and Lofstrom) delivered strong performances for us inside, and our guards (Andersons) played through the adversity to stay on the floor for the rest of the game,” said Tigges. “Both of those factors were key for us tonight.”

Ahead 37-31 after Wintz hit a putback for Okoboji, Reese literally spun her way for an easy lay-in off a Kate Anderson inbound pass before Stumbo tossed in a leaning runner.

Reese then spotted Lofstrom for a 12-foot right-wing shot before Kate and Breanna Anderson delivered entry passes to Reese for back-to-back baskets to grab a 45-33 lead after three complete periods.

Breanna Anderson, who finished with 13 points, triggered North Union’s 8-3 run during the fourth frame’s early stages to put the game out of reach.

Reese utilized a cross-post pass to Lofstrom for a leaner, Lofstrom sank a solo charity toss and then converted Samantha Hagedorn’s assist into a traditional 3-point play and 53-40 lead with 4 minutes remaining.

Hagedorn finished with 10 points and pocketed a game-best four steals for the Warriors.

North Union made 57 percent of its field goals — 20 of 35 — including 5 of 8 behind the 3-point arc, while sinking 72 percent of its free throws — 18 of 25.

Jones generated 13 points and seven rebounds to top Okoboji in both categories.

Okoboji 15 10 8 12 — 45

N. Union 18 15 12 18 — 63

NO. UNION (63)

Hagedorn 2-8 4-6 10, Lofstrom 5-6 4-5 14, Reese 7-9 3-4 17, B. Anderson 3-6 6-7 13, K. Anderson 1-1 0-0 3, McClellan 1-2 0-0 3, Steinberger 0-1 0-1 0, Morphew 1-1 1-2 3, Laverty 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 20-35 18-25 63.

OKOBOJI (45)

Stumbo 4-14 1-4 10, Wintz 4-8 0-0 8, Jones 6-8 1-1 13, Goehring 1-4 0-0 2, Christopherson 4-15 2-2 12, Neilsen 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 19-50 4-7 45.

3-pointers: North Union 5-8 (Hagedorn 2-4, B. Anderson 1-1, K. Anderson 1-1, McClellan 1-1, Steinberger 0-1); Okoboji 3-16 (Christopherson 2-8, Stumbo 1-4, Goehring 0-2, Wintz 0-1, Jones 0-1). Fouled out: Christopherson. Rebounds: North Union 26 (Lofstrom 9); Okoboji 18 (Jones 7). Assists: North Union 12 (Reese 4, Lofstrom and K. Anderson 3 each); Okoboji 8 (Stumbo 4, Christopherson 3). Steals: North Union 8 (Hagedorn 4); Okoboji 8 (Goehring 3).

Boys Basketball

Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven-Ayrshire 74, North Union 34 — Despite the Warriors’ 11-9 first-quarter lead, the Titans scored 24 points in the second quarter and never looked back in the Iowa Class 1A, District 2 playoff victory on Thursday night in Newell, Iowa.

GTRA (15-7) plays Newell-Fonda at 7 p.m. Tuesday in Newell, Iowa. North Union closed out the season at 4-18.

Blake Crawmer led the Warriors with 12 points on 4-for-7 shooting with three rebounds. Riley Bauer scored 10 points as he, Noah Morphew and Derek Thompson each tallied five rebounds.

The Warriors went 11-for-44 from the field, including 5 of 24 from 2-point distance, and 6-for-11 at the line.

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