What we learned from Roland-Story's 79-61 loss to Western Christian in the 2A boys semifinals
Roland-Story had no answer for Western Christian's VanRegenmorter brothers in the Class 2A semifinals of the boys state basketball tournament Thursday at Wells Fargo Arena.
The VanRegenmorters — sophomore Kaden and senior Tate — combined for 41 points, 24 in the second half, to lead the Wildcats to a 79-61 victory over the Norsemen.
Roland-Story finished the season 25-2. It was the best season the school has had since winning the 1977 state championship.
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"It was unbelievable," said Roland-Story coach Darrin Berggren. "Back-to-back-to-back (Heart of Iowa Conference) championships, undefeated (in conference) two seasons in a row, making it to state back-to-back years, win a game down here and be in the top four from start to finish for the year — huge accomplishments for these guys."
Here is what we learned from Roland-Story's state semifinal loss.
Norsemen run out of gas
Roland-Story went blow for blow with Western Christian in the first half.
The Norsemen entered the tournament as the top rebounding team in 2A and they outrebounded the Wolfpack 20-17 over the first two quarters. Both teams shot 12-of-29 from the field in the first half.
Western Christian's only clear advantage in the first half was the turnover battle. The Wolfpack only had one miscue in the first half and that was good enough to get them a 34-32 lead at the break.
But in the second half, Roland-Story couldn't keep pace with the energetic Wolfpack. Western Christian broke a 43-43 tie with a 9-0 run late in the third quarter and the Wolfpack added a 10-0 spurt in the fourth to build a 74-54 lead to put the game away.
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"They just came out with a whole bunch of energy," said Roland-Story senior forward Luke Patton. "I would say we probably out-physicaled them in the first half, but they were the more physical team in the second half. They got every loose ball and every rebound was theirs."
Patton ended the game with 8 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks after going for 25 points and 22 rebounds during Roland-Story's 60-52 quarterfinal win over Kuemper Catholic on Tuesday.
Isaiah Naylor also ended his career with a strong performance for Roland-Story. He went for 19 points and three rebounds in his final game and senior Dillon Lettow added 7 points.
"It's not going to be the same without the seniors," said Roland-Story junior guard Jonovan Wilkinson. "This year was something special."
Wilkinson finished the game with 19 points and five rebounds. Boaz Clark chipped in 4 points and five rebounds, Ben Greenfield added 2 points, three boards and two assists, Jack Birkland posted 2 points and Kale Lande contributed three rebounds.
VanRegenmorter brothers are too much
Kaden VanRegenmorter went for 23 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. His older brother Tate scored 16 of his 18 points in the second half.
"It's awesome to play with him," Tate VanRegenmorter said. "It's a special dynamic."
The duo combined to shoot 14-of-24 from the field.
Karsten Moret stepped up with 17 points and four rebounds, Ashtin Van't Hul had11 points, six boards and four assists and Tyler Mantel added 9 points and seven rebounds for the Wolfpack, who take a 22-3 record into the 2A championship game against top seed Central Lyon, a 56-55 winner over Pella Christian in the other 2A semifinal.
Norsemen pride
The Roland-Story seniors were hurting following Thursday's loss.
But they couldn't have asked for much more in their final season in red and black.
"There are not enough words in the dictionary to talk about how good this team was," Patton said. "Everyone knew what the goal was at the beginning of the season. I'm just so proud of my guys."
This article originally appeared on Ames Tribune: Roland-Story runs out of gas in 2A semifinal loss to Western Christian
