MORAVIA —  After falling behind 6-0 in the early going, the Moravia Lady Mohawks took control of the opening quarter and used big second and third quarters to down Mormon Trail 70-26 in opening round girls regional basketball action Thursday night in Moravia.

Many teams start their run to the state tournament with no tradition to guide them. Directly across from the Lady Mohawk bench hangs a banner that registers five trips to the state tourney by Moravia. It also doesn’t hurt to have a good team. Moravia (18-2) will host Wayne Tuesday night as they look to take another step in the postseason.

The visitors used three free throws and the first of three 3-pointers by Cassie Moore to go up 6-0. Moravia scored eight straight to grab the lead after a basket by Jenna Sheehan. The visitors tied it at eight before the Lady Mohawks scored the final six points of the quarter to lead 14-8 after one. Nicole Self and Kendall Brown each had four points to lead Moravia in the first.

Moravia led 16-10 before three straight baskets by Katelynn Tracy put the lead at 12. Tracy got off to a slow start with only one basket in the opening eight minutes of play, but she had 11 points in the second. Tracy had a double-double with 20 points and 15 boards.

Many of her baskets came on passes in the lane after a drive by a guard.

“I just try to get open inside and look for the ball,” said Tracy. “I just didn’t feel like I was totally warm early in the game.”

Moravia outscored the visitors 25-9 in the second. One of the things that got the Lady Mohawks going was when Autumn McDanel hit the floor. The game went full speed ahead as she directed the play out front.

“I know we want to play uptempo, and I like to push it,” said McDanel. “Sometimes I have to watch out that I don’t go too fast.”

One of the few things that Moravia did to hurt themselves early was to give the visitors too many free throws.

“This was not a typical start for us,” said Moravia coach Clint Woodward. “We’re lucky to have Autumn (McDanel) and Kendall (Brown) to come in off the bench.”

Moravia continued to dominate after the half and outscored the visitors 21-6 in the third. The free throws and turnovers started to pile up for both teams, but the Lady Mohawks had two players who each outscored the Saints in the quarter. Tracy added seven points, but the big quarter was by Hannah Eastlick. She had eight third-quarter points.

The clock ran continuously for part of the final quarter. Kendall Brown had nine of the 10 Moravia points. The big quarter allowed Brown to finish her double-double with 17 points to go along with 11 rebounds. The Lady Mohawks outscored Mormon Trail 10-3 to close out the 70-26 win.

“We set a couple of point goals for the game, and we were nearly right on them,” said Woodward. “We really will work on finishing inside and our backside defensive rotation before Tuesday night.”

Class 1A, Region 6 First Round

Moravia 70, Mormon Trail 26

M.T.         8      9   6   3    —    26    

Mor.        14     25  21  10    —    70    

Mormon Trail (26) — Cassie Moore 13, Kelsey Gehlhaar 3, Mikayla Reed 3, Kailey Stansberry 2, Ashley Hoffmann 1, Cheyenne Williams 4. Totals 6-49 11-26 26.

3-point goals — 3-21 (Moore 3). Fouled out — Gehlhaar, Reed. Rebounds — 30 (Stansberry 10). Assists — 4 (Gehlhaar, Reed, Hofmann, Jordan Gehlhaar). Steals — 10 (Moore 5). Blocks — 4 (Hofmann 4). Total fouls — 22. Turnovers — 33.

Moravia (70) — Hannah Eastlick 9, McKenzie Smith 2, Kendall Brown 17, Katelynn Tracy 20, Jenna Sheehan 7, Autumn McDanel 9, Nicole Self 6. Totals 30-71 10-23 70.

3-point goals — 0-1. Rebounds — 51 (Tracy 15, Brown 11). Assists — 13 (McDanel 6). Steals — 17 (McDanel 10). Blocks — 5 (Tracy 4). Total fouls — 21. Turnovers — 25.



Sabers knock off Bluegrass rival M-U in postseason opener

BUSSEY – Alee Hugen outscored Moulton-Udell on her own Thursday night in the opening round of Class 1A, Region 6 girls basketball action. The senior scored 22 points, three more than the Eagles as Twin Cedars opened postseason play with a 55-19 win over their Bluegrass Conference rivals.

Brittney Roby added a double-double for the Sabers, scoring 13 points while pulling in a game-high 10 rebounds. The Sabers, 19-3 on the season, will return to their home floor for the second round of regional play against Southeast Warren on Tuesday night at 7 p.m.

Moulton-Udell wraps up the season with a 4-15 record. The Eagles lose five seniors, including Natalie Potter, who was second in the area with 19.6 points and fourth in rebounding with 10.4 boards a game.

Twin Cedars 55, Moulton-Udell 19

T.C.        11     10  16  18    —    55    

M-U         4      6   5   4    —    19    

Twin Cedars (55) — Alee Hugen 22, Brittney Roby 13, Kenzie McCarty 7, Shyann DenBurger 5, Ayla Crosby 2, Krissy Davis 2, Emily McLain 2, Elizabeth Rowley 2. Totals 20-58 15-25 55.

3-point goals — 0-11. Rebounds — 39 (Roby 10). Assists — 13 (Crosby 5). Steals — 23 (Crosby 7). Blocks – 1 (Roby). Total Fouls – 13.



Class 1A, Region 6 First Round

Southeast Warren 70, Seymour 14

LIBERTY CENTER – After closing the regular season with three wins in their last four games, Southeast Warren easily kept their hot stretch of play going in their postseason opener with a 70-14 win over Seymour at Liberty Center.

S.E. Warren, 13-9 overall on the season, advances to play at Twin Cedars against the Sabers in the regional semifinals. Seymour, which finishes the season with a 3-13 record, lose just one senior in Abby Brown.



Class 1A, Region 5 First Round

Montezuma 40, Tri-County 28

MONTEZUMA – A tough battle in their postseason opener couldn’t keep Tri-County from avoiding a winless season. The Trojans battled South Iowa Cedar League rival Montezuma tough for the third time this season but fell to the Braves 40-28 on the road on Tuesday.

The Braves, 8-16 on the season, head to another meeting with an SICL foe at BGM in Region 5 second round action on Tuesday. Tri-County loses just two seniors after finishing an 0-23 season.



Class 1A, Region 5 First Round

Belle Plaine 41, Sigourney 24

BELLE PLAINE – A 50-27 win over HLV to wrap up the regular season wasn’t enough momentum to lift Sigourney to a postseason win on the road Tuesday. Belle Plaine made it a clean season series sweep of the Savages with a 41-24 win in another matchup of SICL opponents.

Sigourney finishes the season with a 5-16 record. Head coach Andy Harter loses just two seniors, including leading scorer (8.6) and rebounder (5.6) Val McGill. Belle Plaine heads to Keota for a regional second round matchup on Tuesday.