FINGERTIP CONTROL — North Union point guard Kyan Jones (right), shown stealing a pass against Northwood-Kensett on Feb. 13 in Armstrong, and the Warriors battled Newman Catholic for the Iowa District 4 basketball crown on Tuesday night in Clear Lake, Iowa. The Knights squeezed out a 65-57 victory to end the Warriors’ extended playoff run. (Photo courtesy of Kim Meyer/Bancroft Register and Swea City Herald Press)

CLEAR LAKE, Iowa — One of North Union head boys basketball coach Alex Fisher’s pre-Iowa Class 1A District 4 championship game strategy worked — the Warriors held Newman Catholic guard Max Burt well below his second-best scoring average on Tuesday night.

North Union, however, didn’t anticipate senior forward Noah Hamilton elevating both his scoring and rebounding clips to help Douglas Taylor guide the Knights to a narrow victory over the upset-minded Warriors in Clear Lake, Iowa.

Taylor, a University of Iowa baseball commit, delivered a game-best 27 points to complement 10 boards and three assists, while Hamilton produced an impressive double-double performance of 15 points and a game-high 17 rebounds to fuel a 65-57 win.

Newman Catholic (20-4) advances to face Dunkerton (23-1) for the Iowa Class 1A, Sub-State 2 championship at 7 p.m. Saturday night at Hampton-Dumont High School. Dunkerton defeated South Hamilton (9-13) for the District 3 crown, 52-34.

North Union ended its season with a 15-9 record.

“We have to take away either Taylor or Burt, or both, from a defensive perspective,” Fisher said during his pre-game strategic talks.

Burt, also a Hawkeyes’ baseball commit, scored only three points — 13.4 under his seasonal clip — and distributed a team-best five assists before fouling out with 4:09 left in regulation.

Hamilton, however, proved the wild-card factor as the 6-foot-3 forward nearly match his seasonal scoring (9.6 ppg) and rebounding (7.8 rpg) by intermission. Hamilton netted nine points and grabbed eight boards to help stake the Knights to a 15-11 first-quarter lead and a narrow 27-26 edge heading into the lockerroom at the half.

Taylor, who was averaging 24.7 points and 12.1 rebounds per outing, erupted for eight of Newman Catholic’s 18 third-quarter points to create breathing room at 45-38 heading into the final 8 minutes.

Aiden Lofstrom generated half of his team-best 12 points during the third quarter to keep North Union within striking distance at 38-36.

Kody Irmiter, who came off the Warriors’ bench to collect 11 points and six rebounds, converted a Grady Madden entry pass into a low-post basket to whittle the Knights’ lead to 40-38 with 3 minutes remaining in the third.

Hamilton, however, answered for Newman Catholic by finding a seam in the paint and tossed in a 5-footer before Taylor displayed his passing skills by spotting Trev Hickey for a pivotal 3-pointer for a seven-point lead.

Madden, who finished with nine points, drilled the first of his three 3-pointers to later close North Union’s gap to 47-43 before Taylor took control of the game.

Taylor poured in seven points during the Knights’ ensuing 9-2 run that extended their lead to double digits for the first time in the district clash. Taylor used his 6-4 frame to find the seams in the lane to build a 56-45 lead.

Kyan Jones then added to his all-time school-record career assist total by finding Lofstrom along the baseline for a leaner and hitting Madden for his second trifecta to narrow North Union’s deficit to 56-50 with 2:40 remaining in regulation.

Colin Bleile and Hickey proved valuable reserves as Bleile converted a one-and-one situation before feeding Hickey for a lay-in to keep the Warriors at bay with 47 seconds to go.

Jones finished with eight points, a team-best eight rebounds and a game-high five assists for North Union, Odegaard chipped in eight points, while Danyal Fothergill supplied a game-high four steals to go with four assists.

Toby Kesten and Hickey each netted seven points for the Knights.

NUnion         11-15-12-19–57

NCatholic     15-12-18-20–65

Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial 68, Fairmont 53 — Jamis Ulman tossed in a game-best 20 points to top a balanced scoring attack as the Class 2A, No. 4-ranked Knights rolled to a 15-point nonconference regular-season victory over the Cardinals on Tuesday night in Lake Crystal.

Ulman made 6 of 7 free throws to pace LCWM’s incredible 13-for-14 performance at the line.

Zack Wells generated 14 points for the Knights, Jack Brockmann tallied 11 points, while Michael Matteson added 10 points.

Sawyer Tordsen produced 16 points and garnered four rebounds to pace the Cardinals, while Blaze Geiger delivered 13 points, five boards and four steals.

Levi Pooley went 3 of 4 from 3-point range to pace his 13-point effort to go with five rebounds for Fairmont.

The Cardinals made 21 of 47 field goals, including 3 of 9 from behind the 3-point arc, and added 8 of 11 at the free throw line.

Fairmont (6-17) is scheduled to play host to Belle Plaine on Thursday night, while Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial (23-1) is slated to travel to Norwood Young America on Friday.

The Knights defeated the Cardinals in B-squad action, 46-43, on Tuesday night.

Nolan Schultze nailed five 3-pointers to pace an 18-point outing for Fairmont, while Harmon Schrunk and Oliver Tordsen tossed in eight and six points, respectively.