They're a Big Deal Now
The road to the state tournament came up a lot faster than initially expected for the Red Oak girls basketball team.
“I honestly expected that one of these next couple of years we’d definitely make a run at it,” Red Oak Girls Basketball Coach Dan Martinez said. “With this group of girls, how hard they work and the skills they have, we would get there by the time they graduated.”
The Tigers are returning to the girls state basketball tournament for the first time in 90 years after they defeated Adel-DeSoto-Minburn in the 3A regional final Saturday night in Creston 49-37.
“I’m on cloud nine right now,” Martinez said. “It’s like I’m walking on air.”
Red Oak traded the lead early with ADM, but they were able to pull ahead late in the first quarter. A long distance three-pointer at the buzzer by Blake Bergren gave the Tigers a 12-6 lead.
“We knew we had a chance, we’ve been playing really good down the stretch and we knew if we didn’t get it this year, then next year,” Bergren said.
Red Oak kept ADM quiet on offense during the second quarter, thanks in part to Grace Blomstesdt, who scored eight points in the quarter. Red Oak went into halftime with a 24-14 lead.
“Honestly, I shot two from behind the free throw line and I don’t know how they went in,” Blomstedt said. “I think I was just feeling it, like I had it in my blood. I was just rolling.”
Blomstedt finished the game with 14 points and also had 11 rebounds and a career high 10 blocks, giving the sophomore forward a triple-double.
“I’m thrilled so much that I cried about 10 times and I’m not a crier if that says anything,” Blomstedt said.
Red Oak was able to stay ahead, despite full court pressure at times by ADM. The Tigers were able to transition the ball upcourt, thanks in part to point guard Kate Walker. Martinez said it was a big deal for Walker to handle the ball against the defensive pressure.
“I don’t think her stats show how much she means to us in taking care of the ball, bringing it up, dishing the ball and attacking the basket, because the best offense we had was Kate [Walker] going up the middle and dishing it off to a post,” Martinez said.
The team let off some steam by screaming and loosening up for the second half.
“To get loose, we all scream,” Blomstedt said. “But that’s usual. I enjoy screaming.”
Martinez said he was tempted to have Red Oak press to start the third quarter.
“I just wanted to make sure we keptworking hard,” Martinez said. “I asked if they wanted to press and they said no.”
Red Oak remained focus during the second half and at one point in the third quarter the Tigers had a 15 point lead.
“Going into halftime, we had a 10 point lead before and we lost so we knew we had to keep pushing and not give up our lead,” Walker said.
ADM never got closer than 10 points during the fourth quarter. Despite Red Oak’s cushion of a lead, some were not focused on celebrating the state berth until they were sure the game was in hand.
“Honestly, it still hasn’t sunk in yet. With two minutes left, we were probably up by 10, I was still pretty nervous because anything could happen,” Walker said. “When there was about 50 seconds left, I knew we would win.”
In the final seconds, the Red Oak crowd started chanting “On to State” and it filled the Creston gymnasium.
“When the crowd started with ‘On to State,’ I got the biggest smile on my face,” Red Oak guard Sabrina Guerra said.
Guerra and Bergren, who have been friends for years, said they have long dreamed of making it to the state tournament.
“Words cannot even describe this,” Guerra said. “I don’t even know what is going on. This is amazing; this is insane.”
Guerra finished the game with seven points and four rebounds. Walker, as well as Bailey Hankins finished the game with double-digit points.
Hankins had 11 points, while Walker scored 10.
Bergren finished with six points, but also had seven rebounds and dished the ball around for points, recording a game-high five assists.
“With about a minute left, I started to get a really big smile on my face but Kate [Walker] told me it wasn’t over,” Bergren said.
Red Oak enters the state tournament with a 13-11 record. The team has more than doubled their win total from last season. In 2011-12, the Tigers finished with a 6-16 record.
“No one believed that we could and we did and that’s what makes it so special for us knowing that people doubted us and we exceeded their expectations,” Blomstedt said.
Bergren said Martinez has had confidence in the team and always tells them to go out and do their best.
“He doesn’t expect us to win every night, he just expects us to leave it on the floor and play to our best abilities,” Bergren said. “It puts a lot of confidence into us that we can do it.”
Red Oak was able to reach the regional final by coming from behind and defeating Shenandoah last Wednesday in the regional semifinals 52-40.
Red Oak trailed by seven points at halftime, but rallied to tie the game in the third quarter and take the lead in the fourth.
Blomstedt scored 18 points, while Bergren finished with 16. Walker scored seven points and Guerra had six in the win against Shenandoah.
The Tigers face a tough task in the state quarterfinals. Their opponent will be Davenport Assumption (22-2 overall), the two-time defending 3A state girls basketball champions. Last year, Davenport Assumption defeated MOC-Floyd Valley in the championship game.
The game will take place Tuesday, Feb. 26 at 11:45 a.m. at the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines. This will be the first of four 3A games taking place that day.
The semifinals will be Thursday, Feb. 28. Should Red Oak win, they would play the winner of Bondurant-Farrar and Cascade at 3:15 p.m.
The rest of the quarterfinal match-ups will be Mid-Prairie against MOC-Floyd Valley and Spirit Lake versus Estherville-Lincoln Central.
The championship game for 3A will take place Friday, March 1 at 8 p.m.
This is Red Oak’s first state tournament appearance under the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union sponsorship.
The IGHSAU hadn’t sponsored a girls basketball tournament prior to Red Oak’s last tournament appearance.
In their lone state tournament appearance in 1923, Red Oak lost in the preliminary round to Corydon 12-5.