It wasn’t enough to overcome a sloppy night for the Warriors (18-5).

West Fork (22-2) pulled away in the second half to defeat Meskwaki 62-50 in the District 11 finals Thursday night at Aplington-Parkersburg High School.

The start of the game was filled with promise for the Warriors — they led 17-13 after one quarter and the offense was flowing as it had in their win Tuesday over Grundy Center. Seven quick points from junior Victor Balderas and six from Taurice Grant paced Meskwaki to a lead as big as seven points.

But in the second quarter, West Fork made a chess move that changed the game’s complexion. Bear said it was a big reason the Warriors lost the game — and he asserted that they were still the better team and would have won on a different night.

T-R PHOTO BY NOAH ROHLFING - Meskwaki junior Victor Balderas (24) goes to the basket against West Fork’s Brayden Vold during the second half of Thursday’s Class 1A District 11 final at Aplington-Parkersburg High School.

“For them to pull zone that early, that says a lot about us,” Bear said. “Still, right now I know, I believe we’re the better team. They just sat in the zone and we missed our shots. And that’s what it came down to.”

The surprise 2-3 zone from the Warhawks stacked the paint and tried to prevent bigs Balderas and Tiernan Wanatee from getting easy paint buckets. The knock-on effect was that there was less space and opportunity for Grant and the Warriors’ other guards to finish drives to the basket. The second quarter started with a 14-2 Warhawks run before Bear had to take a timeout and regroup his team. Meskwaki was able to stem the tide and keep the deficit at six heading into the halftime break, but it was clear the Warriors had to play crisp basketball.

They didn’t in the third quarter. After making baskets to cut the lead to two points on multiple occasions, Meskwaki let itself down with a turnover-ridden stretch which directly correlated with the Warhawks taking their biggest lead of the night. At the heart of everything for West Fork was Kayden Ames, who led all players with 30 points and hit seven 3-pointers.

“We would press and not recognize the shooter in the corner,” Bear said of the Warriors’ difficulties guarding Ames. “Against a diamond [press], that weak side, if they get it over to the corner our bottom guy has to close out — sometimes he didn’t close out and sometimes he closed out too short and didn’t challenge the shot. That’s not a good combination.”

A quick start to the fourth quarter put West Fork up by 15. From there, Meskwaki was not able to mount a serious comeback. The Warriors didn’t get within 10 points the rest of the night.

Grant led the Warriors with 22 points, while Balderas scored 14. Emmett Roberts ended his Meskwaki basketball career with six points.

Roberts is the only senior on this Warriors team, so next season is already shaping up to be one full of expectations.

Balderas aimed high in his hopes for the 2020-21 Warriors.

“We did pretty good this year, I feel like we could’ve done better,” Balderas said. “We dropped some games we shouldn’t have dropped. Next year, we’re definitely winning state.”

West Fork 62, Meskwaki 50

At Parkersburg

MESKWAKI (18-5) — Emmett Roberts 2 2-2 6, Taurice Grant 10 0-0 22, Evan Nelson 1 1-1 3, Victor Balderas 6 1-3 14, Tiernan Wanatee 0 0-0 0, Osceola Tyon 1 0-0 3, Larnell Bear 1 0-0 2. TOTALS 21 4-7 50

WEST FORK (22-2) — Ian Latham 2 7-8 11, Brett Weaver 0 0-2 0, Kayden Ames 11 1-3 30, Jakob Washington 5 0-3 11, Brayden Vold 3 1-6 7, Cail Weaver 1 1-2 3, Joe Ingham 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 22 10-24 62

MESKWAKI 17 6 8 19 — 50

WEST FORK 13 16 12 21 — 62

3-Point Goals — Meskwaki 4 (Grant 2, Tyon, Balderas), West Fork 8 (Ames 7, Washington). Total Fouls — Meskwaki 19, West Fork 11. Fouled Out — none.