The Meskwaki girls committed 25 turnovers without facing much on-ball pressure, too often giving the ball back to a capable and patient Collins-Maxwell squad that secured its seventh-straight win, 53-23, in Tuesday’s Class 1A Region 5 quarterfinal contest.

The Spartans (19-4) used a 12-0 run covering most of the second quarter to take a double-digit lead that only briefly dipped back below 10 at the start of the second half. Collins-Maxwell advances to face fifth-ranked Montezuma (21-1) on Friday after winning the rubber match against an Iowa Star Conference South Division rival.

Meskwaki (14-8) claimed the first meeting with Collins-Maxwell this season but the Spartans took the last two, including a decidedly lopsided third pairing in the postseason playoffs.

“They’re just so patient and if they run a minute off the clock they’re happy with that,” Meskwaki coach Emmett Whalen said of Collins-Maxwell. “They’re just so disciplined and they do a good job. They hit the boards hard too, so that’s a pretty good combination.”

T-R PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE - Meskwaki sophomore Summer Youngbear (25) reels in an offensive rebound over Collins-Maxwell’s Reagan Franzen (35) and Kenzi Wierson (11) in the first half of Tuesday’s Class 1A regional game.

The Warriors intended to keep the ball out of Reagan Franzen’s hands and succeeded for the most part, limiting the 5-foot-11 junior post’s touches with a 2-1-2 zone that was willing to surrender some outside shots to a middle-of-the-pack team as far as 3-point attempts.

Meskwaki held a 5-4 lead after a turnover-plagued start by both teams, but back-to-back 3-pointers by C-M’s Brooke Christie and Franzen got the Spartans started late in the first quarter.

“I think the first thing was we knew we had to keep them off the glass, and I don’t know how well we did that but in the first quarter they were getting plenty of second chances and third chances,” said Whalen. “We were in that 2-1-2 which was working for a while, but it’s kind of hard to rebound out of that sometimes.

“They make them at a decent clip but they don’t shoot a ton of 3s. Just with a big (post player) like that you’ve got to gamble on something and that’s what we gambled on and they made a couple 3s. We figured they were going to make a couple but you just don’t want them to kill you with it, which I don’t think they did.”

The slow-paced slugfest found its legs in the second quarter after Meskwaki’s Geanna Bear went to the bench with her third foul. Collins-Maxwell turned up the heat and got going on both ends of the court, forcing seven turnovers and capitalizing on the other end. C-M sophomore Alexis Houge made three layups in a row and added a fourth as a part of the Spartans’ 12-0 surge that made a strong statement heading into halftime.

T-R PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE

Payton Tahahwah opened the third quarter with a 3-pointer for the Warriors, who then didn’t score again for nearly four minutes as Collins-Maxwell’s lead climbed to 20. Consecutive 3-pointers by Bear and Tahahwah late in the third left the margin at 22, but the Warriors didn’t score for the first 5:10 of the fourth quarter after Tahahwah fouled out and Deandra Navarro remained on the bench with four fouls.

“Offensively we just got very rushed, we took some not great shots and we didn’t move the ball very well,” Whalen said. “They got some turnovers on us and ran the floor real well. Their outside shots were gut-punches but I don’t think that’s what did us in — just a combination of us not taking care of the ball and rebounding and not being patient enough on offense.”

The Warriors were unable to penetrate Collins-Maxwell’s 1-3-1 and 2-3 zone defenses, and they only cashed in six 3-pointers from beyond the Spartans’ reaches. Meskwaki finished without a 2-point basket and went 5-for-13 at the free-throw line.

Houge finished with a career-high 24 points for the Spartans, while Franzen added 13.

Tahahwah, the Warriors’ lone senior, led her team with nine points. Navarro added eight while both Bear and Genesis Ramirez made a 3-pointer in the second half.

T-R PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE

Tahahwah finished her career with 895 points but hasn’t decided on her basketball future, according to Whalen. He wishes it was with the Warriors for a couple more years.

“She’s just a beast,” he said. “She comes everyday and works, she’s fun to be around, she has a good attitude, she’s good to her teammates and coaches and she’s humble. She could have 20 points and 10 rebounds and it’s just another day at work.

“We had 14 wins this year — that’s the most since 2013 when they had 20 — so we’re pretty happy with that. Tonight wasn’t our night. At some points tonight we kind of lost our fight, but we’ll have an opportunity this summer to get better and work.”

Collins-Maxwell 53, Meskwaki 23

At Meskwaki Settlement

COLLINS-MAXWELL (19-4) — Emma Kahler 0 0-0 0, Trinity Stover 1 4-6 6, Kenzi Wierson 1 2-2 4, Alexis Houge 10 3-5 24, Reagan Franzen 3 6-6 13, Avery Fricke 0 0-0 0, Janee Jones 0 0-0 0, Brooke Christie 1 0-0 3, Karley Bartleson 0 0-0 0, Marissa Boege 0 0-0 0, Mary Staudt 1 0-0 0, Izzy Hill 1 0-0 2, Ella Kahler 0 1-2 1. TOTALS 17 16-21 53.

MESKWAKI (14-8) — Shye Johnson 0 0-0 0, Deandra Navarro 2 2-2 8, Payton Tahahwah 2 3-6 9, Summer Youngbear 0 0-3 0, Geanna Bear 1 0-0 3, Irene Keahna 0 0-0 0, Genesis Ramirez 1 0-0 3, Ninajean Seymour 0 0-2 0. TOTALS 6 5-13 23.

C-M 10 12 20 11 — 53

MESKWAKI 5 5 10 3 — 23

3-Point Goals–C-M 3 (Christie, Houge, Franzen), Meskwaki 6 (Navarro 2, Tahahwah 2, Ramirez, Bear). Total Fouls–C-M 13, Meskwaki 17. Fouled Out–Tahahwah. Technical Foul–Meskwaki coach Emmett Whalen.