Red Oak holds off Atlantic to advance to semifinals
RED OAK — The Red Oak girls basketball team advanced to the semifinals of the 3A regional tournament after holding off a late rally by the Atlantic Trojanns during the quarterfinals to win 56-53 Saturday night in Red Oak.
Kate Walker and Angela Mahoney scored points late for the Tigers as they were able to keep Atlantic scoreless during the final minute of the game.
“Credit to the girls, they hung in there,” Red Oak girls basketball coach Dan Martinez said. “Momentum went against us.”
Red Oak entered the final quarter with a 48-40 lead. Atlantic had trailed by as much as 15 points during the third quarter.
“All season they’ve turned the ball over,” Martinez said about Atlantic. “They didn’t have too many bad turnovers.”
The Trojanns scored quickly in the first minute of the fourth quarter to cut the lead down to 48-42.
After a timeout, Red Oak slowed down the pace of the game and focused on running time off the clock.
“The girls didn’t like it, but that was a big move,” Martinez said. “We had to break momentum and they had it all.”
Red Oak was able to move the ball around for several minutes as Atlantic stayed back and applied pressure when a pass set up a possible trap opportunity.
“We haven’t done that very much this year, but we did it today and burned a few minutes off,” Walker said.
A turnover with about 4:29 left in the game ended Red Oak’s plan. However, the Tigers got the ball back as Nikki Graber was able to score a lay-up with about 4:10 left and the Tigers led 50-42.
Atlantic continued to chip away at the lead though and focused on not fouling Walker.
“Atlantic’s a scrappy team, so I’m kind of surprised they didn’t come out and play man right away,” Walker said.
Mahoney stepped up and made a pair of free throws with 2:31 left and the Tigers led 52-43.
Atlantic wasn’t done as they scored once with 2:17 left to get the lead down to 52-46. Then Erin Olson had play with 1:52 to go as the Trojanns were down by three.
After a Red Oak turnover, Olson got the ball back and got another three-pointer to cut the lead to one point with 90 seconds left in the game.
“She’s a good shooter, very good shooter,” Martinez said about Olson.
Walker responded with a two-point basket of her own with 1:22 left as the Tigers were up 54-52. Atlantic was fouled on the next possession as they went to the line with a chance to tie with 1:10 left. The Trojanns made one-of-two though and still trailed 54-53.
Walker was eventually fouled with 1:08 left and sank two free throws to give Red Oak the 56-53 lead.
The Trojanns had a couple of opportunities to tie the game or cut into the lead, but weren’t able to capitalize as the Tigers held on.
Things were rough for Red Oak in the first quarter as Olson was able to get Atlantic out to a 21-10 lead in the first quarter.
“We knew [Olson] was a good shooter. We just didn’t really execute our defense very well in the first quarter,” Walker said. “After she hit a few, we really concentrated on her. If we were going to win, we had to stop her.”
Atlantic’s double-digit lead continued early in the second quarter as they led by 13 points at one point.
However, Red Oak went on an 18-2 run in the final five minutes of the half to take a 36-28 lead.
“We settled down,” Martinez said. “We got more focused on defense.”
Walker led the way with 20 points and 11 rebounds for a double-double. Grace Blomstedt halso had a double-double, scoring 12 points and grabbing 12 rebounds.
Bailey Hankins had eight points, while Mahoney scored seven.
The focus for Red Oak is now in the semifinals. They will face a familiar foe in the Shenandoah Fillies Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Shenandoah High School. Shenandoah defeated Clarinda Saturday night to reach the semifinals.
Red Oak has struggled against Shenandoah this season. The Tigers have lost both meetings to the Fillies, including last Thursday in Shenandoah, 58-37. The first meeting Jan. 10 in Red Oak ended in Shenandoah’s favor 49-35.
“We haven’t played our best basketball against Shen the two times we played them,” Walker said. “If we play how we normally play, we could make it a closer game.”
Last year, the two teams played each other in the semifinals of 3A regionals, which also took place in Shenandoah. Red Oak won that game 52-40.
The winner of Wednesday night’s game gets the winner of MOC-Floyd Valley/Sergeant Bluff-Luton Saturday night in Denison.
Red Oak 66, Southwest Valley 39
Red Oak got its 14th win of the season when they defeated Southwest Valley last Monday in Corning, 66-39. The Tigers jumped out to a 20-8 lead and never looked back.
Walker scored 30 points and had seven assists to lead the way for the Tigers.
Blomstedt finished with 20 points, eight rebounds and five steals.
Mahoney, Maranda Gowdy and Dana Marsden each scored four points.