Red Oak set for quarterfinal showdown with Nevada

With a full week to prepare, the Red Oak Tigers girls’ basketball team are set to play in the state tournament Tuesday afternoon for the second time in three seasons.

Red Oak is looking for its first state tournament win in school history when they take on the Nevada Cubs in a battle between the fourth and fifth seeds.

The two teams will square off at 1:30 p.m. at the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

Red Oak has had a full week to get ready for their state tournament game. Red Oak girls’ basketball coach Dan Martinez said the team is ready to play.

“Being the first class in, it seemed like it has been awhile since we’ve had any competition, so that concerns me a little bit,” he said.

How did we get here?

The expectations were there for the Red Oak Tigers entering the 2014-15 season.

With seniors Kate Walker and Grace Blomstedt leading the way, as well as the defensive strengths of Angela Mahoney and Madison Gilbert and the perimeter shooting capabilities of Micayla Taylor, the opportunity was there for a second trip to Des Moines.

Expectations were also high as more than half of the varsity roster helped the Red Oak volleyball team reach the state semifinals in November.

Red Oak split their first two games to start the season, blowing out Riverside 59-13, but losing Dec. 5 in a 52-47 battle to Lewis Central.

The loss to Lewis Central was the last one the Tigers had for more than a month.

With a target on their backs, the Tigers went on a 10-game winning streak.

They had close games during that stretch, like Dec. 9 against Atlantic 49-44 when Walker scored her 1,000th point or the Blomstedt game-winning bucket against St. Albert (57-55) Dec. 12.

Red Oak continued to get close wins in January after the break over Glenwood (50-45), Treynor (51-36), Shenandoah (42-29) and Creston (56-48).

The streak came to an end thanks to a last-second bucket in a 50-49 loss to Kuemper Catholic at home Jan. 16.

The skid continued as a fourth-quarter collapse led to Glenwood winning 71-59 Jan. 20. A 69-33 loss to Harlan Jan. 23 gave the Tigers a three-game losing skid.

The loss to the 4A state qualifier would be the last one Red Oak would have for the remainder of the regular season.

The Tigers powered through to get three straight wins against Southwest Valley, St. Albert and Atlantic.

Red Oak faced off against Shenandoah Feb. 3 as last second free throws by Walker gave the Tigers a 60-59 win.

It would be the closest Red Oak would come to losing for the rest of the regular season as they blew out both Creston and Southwest Valley with no shortage of momentum for 3A regionals.

In regionals, the Tigers were seeded third as they first defeated Clarke 65-20 Feb. 14 in the quarterfinals.

Red Oak then faced Shenandoah for the third time this season, another semifinal match-up against the Fillies.

Because of seeding, Shenandoah hosted the game.

After trailing at halftime, Red Oak rallied back and took the lead in the fourth quarter, clinching a third straight regional final berth and defeating the Fillies 58-53.

The win set up a rematch with Kuemper Catholic Feb. 21 with a state tournament berth on the line.

Both teams went back and forth in an epic regional final as Red Oak scored four points in the final minute, including the game-tying lay-up with less than 10 seconds to go by freshman forward Sierra Athen to force overtime.

Once in overtime, Red Oak turned to its two best players, Walker and Blomstedt to take the lead and hold on to get the 72-69 victory.

How did they get there?

Nevada began the 2014-15 season winning five straight games before their first loss of the year Dec. 9 in a close upset, 44-40, to Greene County. 

The Cubs then won eight straight games, with blowouts against Gilbert, South Hamilton, Colfax-Mingo, Collins-Maxwell/Baxter and Bondurant-Farrar.

Nevada hit a stumbling block during the Jan. 23 and 24 weekend as they had road losses to both Saydel (52-48) and Waverly-Shell Rock (48-34).

The Cubs got back on track, winning five straight to finish the regular season.

In regionals, they scored double-digit wins in all three of their games. They defeated Bondurant-Farrar 56-27 in the quarterfinals Feb. 14 and followed up with a Feb. 18 43-30 win against South Tama.

In the regional final Feb. 21, they held off a late rally by Benton Community to get a 60-50 win.

This will be the first state tournament appearance for Nevada since 1968. They lost to Everly 105-79 in the first round.

Looking into the Past

The Tigers hope for a better result after their first time at state (under the IGHSAU format) in 2013 when they were the eighth seed drawing No. 1 seed Davenport Assumption.

Red Oak lost 71-25 to the eventual state champions.

The team looks slightly different now than the team Red Oak fielded in 2013.

The two players who started on the 2012-13 team will be leading Red Oak onto the court at the Wells Fargo Arena Tuesday afternoon: Walker and Blomstedt.

“It definitely should help, having been there two years ago,” Martinez said. “Hopefully we’ve learned some lesson in what we’ve needed to do.”

Both Walker and Blomstedt had to step up for the Tigers last season as juniors when Blake Bergren, who rehabbed and would go on to play college basketball at Upper Iowa University in Fayette, went down with a season-ending ACL injury in Dec. 2013.

Walker averaged 19 points per game as a junior last season, while Blomstedt averaged 12.7. 

The Tigers cruised through most of regionals, but lost in the regional final to the eventual state champions, MOC-Floyd Valley.

This season has been no different for Red Oak. Walker enters the state tournament averaging 20.1 points per game, while Blomstedt is averaging 14.8.

Walker, in particular, brings a wealth of experience to state. She’s been to state in five different sports (basketball, volleyball, tennis, track and cross country).

If there has been one player who has stepped up for the Tigers as of late, it is without a doubt senior guard  Taylor. 

It was Taylor who hit 6-of-9 from three-point range in the regional final win versus Kuemper Catholic.

Taylor saw limited action during the 2012-13 season, playing in five games. 

The other players on this year’s team who saw varsity action in 2012-13 include Mahoney, Gilbert, Maysen Havener and Megan Sands.

Compare and Contrast

Both teams are entering the 2015 state tournament with at 20 or more wins this season. Red Oak enters Tuesday’s game with a 20-4 record, while Nevada is 21-3.

Of the eight teams competing at state, Red Oak is third in points per game, averaging 58.3, while Nevada is last with 53.9.

Red Oak’s best attribute is by far its free throw shooting. They’re shooting 70.4 percent  at the line this season. Only Crestwood (71.8) has a higher free throw shooting percentage.

The Tigers also have a better three-point shooting percentage than Nevada (33.3-32.8). However, Nevada has a distinct advantage in two-point shooting percentage (52.3-45.5).

Red Oak has the advantage in rebounding as the Tigers average 32.5 per game, while Nevada averages 28.4.

Other 3A quarterfinals

Red Oak won’t be the first 3A game to take the court Tuesday.

That honor belongs to the top seed in this tournament, Mediapolis (24-0). They’ll face Mount Vernon (16-8) at 11:45 a.m.

The winner of Mediapolis/Mount Vernon and Red Oak/Nevada games will face off in the semifinals Thursday at 3:15 p.m.

Crestwood (21-2) will take on Spirit Lake (18-6) in the third quarterfinal, which takes place at 3:15 p.m. 

The 3A quarterfinals wrap up at 5 p.m. when Pocahontas Area (23-1) squares off against Clear Lake (18-6). The winners of the bottom half of the quarterfinal bracket will face off Thursday at 5 p.m.

The state championship game will take place Saturday at 4 p.m.