Villisca advances to play in regional final Monday night

AFTON—The Villisca girls basketball team advanced to the regional final to play Bedford Monday night, following a pair of wins last week.

The Blue Jays were able to advance to the regional final with a win Friday night in Afton against Murray 56-46.

Murray had a close lead at halftime and even led by the end of the third quarter. The difference in the game though was the fourth quarter when Villisca scored 25 points, while Murray had 12.

It was a big night for Bree Ann Fisher as she scored 16 points on 8-for-14 shooting with two rebounds.

Morganne Haer was the next highest scorer as she recorded 12 points, including 5-for-8 at the free throw line.

Amanda Focht and Jill Vanderhoof each scored 11 points.

Villisca played Bedford in the regional final Monday night in Clarinda, but results weren’t available as of press time. An update will be posted on the Express website, as well as the Facebook page.

Villisca 63, Corning 43

Villisca was able to advance to the semifinal game with their win in the quarterfinals against Corning last Tuesday.

A big moment happened during the game as Vanderhoof crossed the 1,000 point milestone late in the third quarter.

“I didn’t know if I’d ever have this happen,” Vanderhoof said after the game.

Vanderhoof needed 12 points to reach the milestone and scored four points in the first half. The senior finished the game with 15 points and 12 rebounds.

“Honestly, at the start of the tournament, I had it in mind it might happen,” Vanderhoof said. “When Amanda’s [milestone] happened, I was hoping mine would happen too.”

Vanderhoof’s teammate Focht scored her 1,000th point in the Feb. 5 win against North Nodaway. Focht had a big night against Corning as she scored 19 points on 8-for-11 shooting from the field with nine rebounds.

The main goal was to get past Corning, who has knocked them off in regionals the past few seasons, including the heartbreaking 42-40 loss during last season’s quarterfinal.

“I didn’t worry about the 12 until after we had the win secured,” Villisca Head Coach Donna Williams said after the game.

Vanderhoof said the main goal for the game was to get the win against Corning and knew she would reach 1,000 points if the team kept moving along in the tournament.

“It’s kind of nice to finally get them back,” she said. “To finally get that win over them, it feels good.”