ABERDEEN – Castlewood continued its “Iron Woman” persona on the way to the Class B state championship on Saturday night at the Barnett Center as the Warriors beat Hanson, 47-41, in the title game.
Only five players saw the court for the second-straight night as Castlewood led at each quarter break – 11-10; 23-18 and 35-32 – to capture the state title.
Spirit of Su winner Regan Benike posted a double-double of 17 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Warriors, who finished the season with a 23-2 mark. Alayna Benike dropped 22 points, dished out two assists and came up with two steals while Abbey Strait completed the scoring with eight points along with three assists. Darah DeKam didn’t score but pulled down a game-high 12 boards and blocked a pair of shots.
Brooklyn Slaba led a balanced scoring attack for the Beaverettes with 11 points as Jayda Campbell added nine points and 11 rebounds. Ha Kayser chipped in with eight; M Guericke added seven points, seven rebounds and three assists while Brooklyn Weber contributed six points as Hanson finished 22-4.
Third Place
• Tripp-Delmont/Armour 57, Ethan 46
The Nighthawks overcame a 13-8 first-quarter deficit to rally to knock off Ethan, 57-46, for third place.
TDA came back to take a 24-19 lead at halftime before building its advantage to 38-25 after three.
Mattilynn Reiner led the Nighthawks with 16 points, eight rebounds and five steals while Erica Koster had 14 points, seven boards, six assists, four steals and two blocks as TDA finished with a 22-4 mark.
Karly Gustafson posted a double-double of 34 points and 12 rebounds for Ethan, which finished the season with a 22-4 record.
Fifth Place
• Warner 54, Sully Buttes 44
The Monarchs used a 20-9 second-quarter surge to overcome an 11-9 first-quarter deficit en route to beating Sully Buttes in the consolation championship.
Warner was up 39-32 through three quarters before pulling away for the win, which moved the Monarchs to 22-4 overall.
Haylee Hanson scored a game-high 21 points and dished out four assists to lead Warner while Laurie Rogers posted a double-double of 11 points and 11 rebounds, to go along with five blocked shots. Ashley Fischbach added 10 points.
Rachel Guthmiller poured in 18 points and pulled down eight boards for the Chargers before fouling out. Lauren Wittler notched a double-double of 11 points and 11 rebounds with three blocks while Marinda Archer chipped in with 10 points as Sully Buttes dropped to 23-3.
Seventh Place
• Faith 50, Avon 45
The top-seeded Longhorns put one in the win column as they rallied from a 34-33 third-quarter deficit to pull out the five-point win.
Faith led 16-11 after a quarter and 26-22 at halftime before the Pirates went in front with a 12-7 third-quarter outburst.
Kailyn Groves posted a double-double of 19 points and a game-high 10 rebounds while Jayden Shoemaker added 11 points as the Longhorns finished the season with a 24-2 mark.
Lauren Sees dropped a game-high 28 points and grabbed eight boards for Avon, which dropped to 20-6. Cheylee Nagel chipped in with eight points and seven rebounds as Livi Jurrens added seven points and seven boards.
