This time, there was no magical late-game rally. East Greene dug itself into a hole in the third quarter and no comeback materialized, sending Guthrie Center on to the substate game with a commanding 65-36 victory in the district final Thursday night, Feb. 23, at Boone.
The Hawks hung with the veteran Tigers—a 2011 state tourney team—in the first half, trailing 12-9 in the first quarter and tying things up at 19 later in the half. Guthrie then outscored the Hawks 11-3 and took a 30-22 to lead into the locker room.
The Tigers, top seed in the district, then poured it on in the second half, building a 47-27 lead after three periods and coasting the rest of the way. The Hawks had no answer for Darren McGivney, who hit 5 three-pointers on his way to a 24-point performance.
EG shot a chilly 12-of-46 for 26% and its usually reliable long-range game was absent, as the Hawks connected on just 3-of-24 three-point shots. Reed Ostrander scored 14 points and pulled down 14 rebounds to lead the Hawks. He also had 4 blocks. No other Hawks hit double figures.
The Tigers nailed 27 of 62 attempts for 44% shooting. They also had the upper hand on the boards with a 44-31 advantage.
East Greene closed out the season at 12-11 while Guthrie Center advanced with 14-9 record. The Tigers were thumped by St. Mary’s of Storm Lake, 75-47, at Fort Dodge on Saturday, Feb. 25. The substate game was a rematch of last year’s clash in the semifinal round in state tournament in Des Moines, where St. Mary’s won 62-49 to advance to the state championship game, which the Panthers won over undefeated Danville 74-59.
Danville and St. Mary’s are back in the tourney again this year and hold down the top two seeds. St. Mary’s (25-0) takes on Lisbon (20-6) and Danville (25-0) squares off against St. Albert’s of Council Bluffs (14-10) on Monday, March 5. The two teams were ranked 1-2 throughout the 2011-12 season.
EYE ON GJ SAYS: The district final game was the final appearance on the court for five EG seniors—Broc Timm, Kelsey Coffin, Corey Gohn, Alex Dobney and Jacob Scanlon. Timm has played a key role of the bench alls season and started several games. All five of the seniors saw action in the Guthrie Center game.
The Hawks return the entire starting lineup from this year’s squad along with key reserve T.J. Lint. The other starters at Boone were juniors Tory Beger, Alex Gordon, Wyatt Beaman and sophomore Cody Hidelbaugh.
This week, Ostrander, a junior center, was named to the Rolling Hills Conference first team, one of two unanimous picks. Beger and Beaman were named all-conference honorable mention.
Conference foes Exira/Elk Horn-Kimballton and CAM played in the district final at Clarinda, with EEHK getting the win, 51-42. The Spartans moved to substate play with the chance to make a repeat trip the state tournament, but they were downed 49-41 by Nodaway Valley (Greenfield). EEHK finishes the season as conference and district champions for the second year in a row. The Spartans have compiled a 44-6 record the past two seasons.
2011-12 ROLLING HILLS CONFERENCE BOYS BASKETBALL
Final Conference and Regular Season Records
Exira/Elk Horn-Kimballton 17-1 22-2
CAM (Anita) 15-3 19-5
Ankeny Christian 14-4 16-7
Adair-Casey 11-7 13-9
East Greene 9-9 12-11
Orient-Macksburg 7-11 8-13
Iowa Christian 7-11 7-13
Glidden-Ralston 6-12 7-15
Walnut 4-14 8-15
Paton-Churdan 0-18 0-20
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