North Tama overcame 10 first-half turnovers, a 10-point halftime deficit, and under 50 percent free-throw shooting to defeat Ankeny Christian Academy 47-45 Monday in the first round of the boys’ state basketball tournament.
When the Redhawks’ Mitchell Boerm made the first basket of the fourth quarter to tie the game at 34, it was the first tie since 10-10. Skyler Kvidera’s free throw less than 40 seconds later gave the third-seeded Redhawks their first lead of the game. However, North Tama failed to score a field goal in the last 4:37, enabling the sixth-seeded Eagles to go on mini-scoring runs and bring the game down to the final seconds.
Mitchell Boerm misses a free throw with 2.5 seconds left. NT was 2 for 8 on free throws in the last 30 seconds.
(end objective reporting)
Wow. That first half was chock-full of mistakes, and they started immediately after the opening tip. ACA coolly dropped in three-point shots and free throws throughout the first half, and it appeared very likely that NT was going to make an unscheduled exit. But the Redhawks chipped away at the deficit in the third quarter, and kept playing hard.
The semifinal opponent will be defending champion Boyden-Hull, the westernmost team North Tama has ever played in a state tournament. The previous record holder was Tri-Center of Neola, which beat NT 10-6 in the 1986 Class 2A baseball semifinal.
Box score. More coverage: Des Moines Register, Waterloo Courier, Cedar Rapids Gazette, WHO, Marshalltown Times-Republican.
On a related note, the ISU women overcame a 13-point early-second-half deficit to beat Oklahoma State by three. The operative word for today’s basketball action: astonishing.