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PCM blocks West Marshall’s path

No. 11 Mustangs slip past No. 14 Trojans, 52-49

T-R PHOTO BY ADAM RING • West Marshall’s Brooke Snider (10) has her shot contested by PCM’s Kaylee Townsend in the first quarter of Saturday’s Class 3A Region 8 final in Bondurant. PCM blocked a potential game-tying shot attempt to take the 52-49 win and advance to the state tournament.

BONDURANT — The way the Trojans and Mustangs traded blows, Saturday’s contest was bound to come down to one possession.

Isabelle Gradwell’s game-tying 3-point shot attempt with 1.7 seconds left was blocked by Regan Freland, and the PCM girls’ basketball team is moving on to the Iowa High School Girls’ Basketball State Tournament after the Mustangs took the Class 3A Region 8 final 52-49 against the Trojans inside Bondurant-Farrar High School.

The game between the No. 11 Mustangs (20-4) and No. 14 Trojans (20-4) saw 11 lead changes in the 32 minutes of action. West Marshall held a 40-34 lead with 5:58 left in the third quarter after opening the second half with a 9-3 run to break a 31-all halftime score. However, the Trojans wouldn’t get another bucket to fall in the quarter. The Mustangs went on a 10-0 run the rest of the quarter to turn the tides, and took a 44-40 lead into the final quarter.

“Anybody that wasn’t disappointed in this type of game and importance of the game, you’re not a competitor unless you’re disappointed at the end of a game like this,” said West Marshall coach Fred Zeller. “End of a season, you always feel bad.

“Our kids competed right until the end. Maybe didn’t execute like they had to down the stretch. There were times during the game we looked good. At times they didn’t. The same for (the Mustangs). They just happened to put a string together at the end that put them over the top. We didn’t quite get it done, but the effort was there.”

T-R PHOTO BY ADAM RING • West Marshall’s Isabelle Gradwell (24) tries to get a shot off over PCM’s Regan Freland (13) in the second quarter of the Class 3A Region 8 final Saturday in Bondurant. Gradwell led all scorers with 20 points, but PCM held on to win 52-49.

PCM had an opportunity to extend its lead early in the fourth quarter with a breakaway layup, but Shannon Breja chased the Mustang down and swatted the shot attempt away with a block that could be heard throughout the gymnasium. Gradwell hit a step-back 3 with 5:57 to play to pull the Trojans within one. She then made a pair of free throws 29 seconds later to hand the lead back to West Marshall. The junior, in just her second game back from a broken right fibula suffered a little more than a month ago, made a field goal with 4:01 left, for a three-point edge.

Gradwell led all scorers with 20 points, including four 3-pointers. Freland, who grew up in the West Marshall district, led PCM with 15 points. Brooke Snider added 13 for the Trojans, as did Katie VandeWall for the Mustangs.

VandeWall kept the Mustangs within one with a bucket. Teresa Disney put the Trojans back up three on the other end, but VandeWall responded again 10 seconds later with a basket. Freland made a pair of free throws with 2:15 to play, and Kayla Jennings put PCM up 52-49 with 49.2 left on the clock. Zeller called a timeout, and when PCM prevented the Mustangs from getting a shot off, called another timeout with 8.7 left. The only shot the Trojans got off was Gradwell’s last-second try.

“Fatigue may have been a factor down the stretch,” Zeller said. “Isabelle played her heart out, but she hasn’t had much practice time, and that may have been a factor. Can’t fault her effort. Kid comes back from a broken leg, and plays her heart out. Feel bad for her, and feel bad for all of us. Three seniors that played their role well throughout the season. We can leave with our head up even though it hurts.”

The Trojans started out fast, getting a combined four 3-pointers from Gradwell and Snider, building a 14-4 lead a little more than five minutes into the first quarter. PCM trimmed it to five, only to see West Marshall build it to nine early in the second. But PCM then went on a 9-0 run in a matter of 90 seconds in the middle of the quarter to take a 22-21 lead, and the back-and-forth battle began and persisted into the third quarter.

T-R PHOTO BY ADAM RING

PCM drew top-ranked Sioux Center in the 3A bracket at the state tournament, which gets started Feb. 28 at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

PCM 52, West Marshall 49

At Bondurant

PCM (20-4) — Regan Freland 4 5-6 15, Katie VandeWall 6 1-3 13, Rachel Stafford 2 0-0 4, Kayla Jennings 4 2-3 11, Kaylee Townsend 2 0-0 4, Alexis Timmins 1 1-2 3, Bailey Brodersen 1 0-0 2, Abby Waddell 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 20 9-14 52.

WEST MARSHALL (20-4) — Brooke Snider 4 2-2 13, Shannon Breja 0 0-0 0, Kayla Cripps 3 0-0 7, Isabelle Gradwell 6 4-6 20, Teresa Disney 3 0-0 6, Emma Meyer 0 0-0 0, Madde Green 1 0-0 3, Georgia Porter 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 17 6-8 49.

PCM 9 22 13 8 — 52

W. MARSHALL 14 17 9 9 — 49

3-Point Goals–PCM 3 (Freland 2, Jennings) WM 9 (Gradwell 4, Snider 3, Cripps, Green). Total Fouls–PCM 9, WM 11. Fouled Out–None.

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