Heelan girls reign as 3A champs
By Steve Allspach Journal sports writer | Posted: Sunday, March 02, 2008
Members of the Heelan squad celebrate their victory over Pella in action of the Class 3A Iowa Girls State Basketball Tournament championship game played Saturday at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines. (Staff photo by Tim Hynds)
DES MOINES -- Sioux City Bishop Heelan looked into a mirror and liked the image.
So, let's hear it for the girls.
In the long and distinguished history of basketball at Heelan High School, you'd have been hard-pressed to convince Crusader faithful that the girls hoops program would win a state championship before the boys.
So much for conventional wisdom.
Saturday night at Wells Fargo Arena, Heelan won the school's first state hoops title when the third-ranked Crusader girls defeated No. 1-ranked Pella 54-51 in the Class 3A title game.
Heelan finished the season with the school's best record ever, 25-2, and Pella closed with the same record.
And, after never winning a state tournament game until last year, Sioux City now has back-to-back state titles. Coach Doug Moody's Crusaders join North, the 4A state champs last year, on the Sioux City title throne.
"Just before the game I had all the players line up in front of mirrors in the dressing room and told them to look at themselves and ask themselves if they could come back in after the game and look in the same mirror and honestly say they had given an ultimate effort they could live with,'' reflected Moody after the game.
"Yes, they took a look at themselves after the game and I think you know what their answer was.
"It was a great performance. This group is deserving of a state title.''
All-stater Michelle Lund, who will take an impressive resume to Bradley University that includes the all-time Sioux City five-player scoring record (1,837 points), tallied 16 points in the title game.
The Crusader senior was named to the all-tournament team, as was sophomore teammate Millie Niggeling, who was honored as the captain of the all-tourney squad.
Niggeling scored 17 points, snared nine rebounds and blocked four shots, including a big swat of a short shot underneath by Brooke Gritters with 1:42 left in the game and Heelan clinging to a 52-49 lead.
A huge difference-maker, too, was 5-8 sophomore Carli Tritz, who had19 points and came up with her usual sterling floor game.
Tritz wasn't named to the all-tourney team, which raised eyebrows, but was named the player of the game by the Iowa High School Sports Network.
"What's important is we're the state champions,'' said the personable Tritz. "I don't care about the all-tournament thing. I'm only a sophomore, maybe I'll get another chance.''
Tritz was 7-for-11 from the field and made five of her free throws.
"We had to play great defense to win,'' said Niggeling, a 6-1 sophomore. "This was such a total team effort. We were focused all week long.
"We didn't come here to win a game, we came here to win a championship. It's an honor to be the captain, but it belongs to all of us.''
The sturdy Gritters, a 5-10 sophomore who was averaging 8.7 points coming into the tournament, led Pella with 21 points and10 rebounds.
Gritters, who set a Class 3A state meet record last spring with a throw of 45 feet, 5 inches to win a state shot put title, also connected on two three-pointers.
Pella's leading scorer, Missouri-Rolla signee Jenny Dorman, tallied 13 points after bring a 14.7 average to Des Moines.
Dorman missed a three-point attempt with four seconds left that could have forced overtime.
"It wasn't a good look,'' said Dorman. "It felt weird when I let it go. I knew it wasn't going to go in.''
With 2:04 left, Niggeling sank one of two free throw attempts to put the Crusaders in front 52-49. Dorman, fouled with 40.9 seconds left, sank two charity shots and Tritz was called for charging with 28.1 seconds remaining.
Lund thought she'd clearly ripped the ball from Gritters' hands with 14.8 seconds left, but Gritters missed the free throw and Niggeling pulled down her ninth rebound to clinch the championship.
"I can't tell you how wonderful this feels right now,'' said Lund, who closed out a grand career in the most majestic of styles. "The seniors have worked so hard for a long, long time.
"I can't really put into the right words the sense of accomplishment. We believed in ourselves, our coaches and each other.
"This championship didn't come easy, I can tell you that. We beat three teams we weren't supposed to beat, starting with Xavier (Cedar Rapids) in the first game here, but I thought I was going to ruin it for us when I missed that free at the end.''
The 5-7 Lund, who handles the basketball constantly for the Crusaders but was charged with only six turnovers in three games, missed the front end of a one-and-one when she was fouled by Gritters with 1:02 left to play.
Pella led 38-34 with 2:12 left in the third quarter, but Lund splashed a long southpaw three-pointer and a Tritz steal and layup created a 39-39 tie after three stanzas.
Lund then made back-to-back treys to give the Missouri River Activities Conference champ a 45-39 lead. Pella, like Heelan playing in its first championship game, couldn't catch up.
A short runner by Lund with 4:47 left opened a 49-43 margin and a Gritters putback with 2:20 remaining was the last Dutch basket.
"I can't say enough about Michelle Lund,'' sighed Moody. "She's been the heart and soul of what's been happening with our program.
"Millie had a big week, too, rebounding, defense, everything.''
Pella took a 20-12 lead after a quarter, thanks to three-point baskets from Dorman, Brillhart and reserve Makenzie VanderMolen.
VanderMolen's long archer from deep in the corner with 1.8 seconds left.
Heelan clawed its way back to within 29-26 at the half as Tritz contributed 11 points and Niggeling 10 before the break.
"I really couldn't figure out what they were doing with their defense,'' said Moody. "It was a combination of a zone and man. We made some adjustments, but it was diffrcult figuring them out.
"They have a very good team and great coaching.
"We didn't do a very good job rebounding the entire game, especially giving up points on their offensive board.''
"It was two evenly-matched teams,'' said Pella Coach Mike Vint. "We play 10 times, maybe we win five, but Heelan's very talented.
"We missed some shots, free throws, too, down the stretch that hurt.''
Pella (51)
Min FG-A FT-A RB A PF TP
Jenny Dorman 28 3 9 5 5 3 2 1 13
Sophie Metcalf 14 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
Kelsey Schuring 19 0 4 2 2 2 1 4 2
Brooke Gritters 29 8 15 3 7 10 0 2 21
Haley Brillhart 25 3 11 0 0 5 3 5 7
Makenzie VanderMolen 19 1 1 0 0 2 1 1 3
Isabel Metcalf 15 2 5 1 1 3 0 2 5
Jordyn Vande Lune 10 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0
Laryssa Klein 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Team 2
Totals 160 17 46 11 15 29 8 15 51
Bishop Heelan (54)
Min FG-A FT-A RB A PF TP
Bridgette Niles 16 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
Michelle Lund 32 6 12 0 1 4 0 2 16
Carli Tritz 30 7 11 5 5 1 5 3 19
Val Huser 11 0 0 0 0 3 0 1 0
Millie Niggeling 32 7 13 3 4 9 1 3 17
Amanda Hoffman 16 1 3 0 0 0 2 1 2
Maggie Vondrak 21 0 0 0 0 5 0 0 0
Olivia Horner 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Team
Totals 160 21 39 8 10 22 8 12 54
Score by halves:
Pella 20 9 10 12 51
Bishop Heelan 12 14 13 15 54
3-point shots Pella 6-15 (Dorman 2-5, Gritters 2-3, Brillhart 1-4, VanderMolen 1-1, I. Metcalf 0-1, Schuring 0-1), Bishop Heelan 4-7 (Lund 4-5, Tritz 0-1, Hoffman 0-1).
So, let's hear it for the girls.
In the long and distinguished history of basketball at Heelan High School, you'd have been hard-pressed to convince Crusader faithful that the girls hoops program would win a state championship before the boys.
So much for conventional wisdom.
Saturday night at Wells Fargo Arena, Heelan won the school's first state hoops title when the third-ranked Crusader girls defeated No. 1-ranked Pella 54-51 in the Class 3A title game.
Heelan finished the season with the school's best record ever, 25-2, and Pella closed with the same record.
And, after never winning a state tournament game until last year, Sioux City now has back-to-back state titles. Coach Doug Moody's Crusaders join North, the 4A state champs last year, on the Sioux City title throne.
"Just before the game I had all the players line up in front of mirrors in the dressing room and told them to look at themselves and ask themselves if they could come back in after the game and look in the same mirror and honestly say they had given an ultimate effort they could live with,'' reflected Moody after the game.
"Yes, they took a look at themselves after the game and I think you know what their answer was.
"It was a great performance. This group is deserving of a state title.''
All-stater Michelle Lund, who will take an impressive resume to Bradley University that includes the all-time Sioux City five-player scoring record (1,837 points), tallied 16 points in the title game.
The Crusader senior was named to the all-tournament team, as was sophomore teammate Millie Niggeling, who was honored as the captain of the all-tourney squad.
Niggeling scored 17 points, snared nine rebounds and blocked four shots, including a big swat of a short shot underneath by Brooke Gritters with 1:42 left in the game and Heelan clinging to a 52-49 lead.
A huge difference-maker, too, was 5-8 sophomore Carli Tritz, who had19 points and came up with her usual sterling floor game.
Tritz wasn't named to the all-tourney team, which raised eyebrows, but was named the player of the game by the Iowa High School Sports Network.
"What's important is we're the state champions,'' said the personable Tritz. "I don't care about the all-tournament thing. I'm only a sophomore, maybe I'll get another chance.''
Tritz was 7-for-11 from the field and made five of her free throws.
"We had to play great defense to win,'' said Niggeling, a 6-1 sophomore. "This was such a total team effort. We were focused all week long.
"We didn't come here to win a game, we came here to win a championship. It's an honor to be the captain, but it belongs to all of us.''
The sturdy Gritters, a 5-10 sophomore who was averaging 8.7 points coming into the tournament, led Pella with 21 points and10 rebounds.
Gritters, who set a Class 3A state meet record last spring with a throw of 45 feet, 5 inches to win a state shot put title, also connected on two three-pointers.
Pella's leading scorer, Missouri-Rolla signee Jenny Dorman, tallied 13 points after bring a 14.7 average to Des Moines.
Dorman missed a three-point attempt with four seconds left that could have forced overtime.
"It wasn't a good look,'' said Dorman. "It felt weird when I let it go. I knew it wasn't going to go in.''
With 2:04 left, Niggeling sank one of two free throw attempts to put the Crusaders in front 52-49. Dorman, fouled with 40.9 seconds left, sank two charity shots and Tritz was called for charging with 28.1 seconds remaining.
Lund thought she'd clearly ripped the ball from Gritters' hands with 14.8 seconds left, but Gritters missed the free throw and Niggeling pulled down her ninth rebound to clinch the championship.
"I can't tell you how wonderful this feels right now,'' said Lund, who closed out a grand career in the most majestic of styles. "The seniors have worked so hard for a long, long time.
"I can't really put into the right words the sense of accomplishment. We believed in ourselves, our coaches and each other.
"This championship didn't come easy, I can tell you that. We beat three teams we weren't supposed to beat, starting with Xavier (Cedar Rapids) in the first game here, but I thought I was going to ruin it for us when I missed that free at the end.''
The 5-7 Lund, who handles the basketball constantly for the Crusaders but was charged with only six turnovers in three games, missed the front end of a one-and-one when she was fouled by Gritters with 1:02 left to play.
Pella led 38-34 with 2:12 left in the third quarter, but Lund splashed a long southpaw three-pointer and a Tritz steal and layup created a 39-39 tie after three stanzas.
Lund then made back-to-back treys to give the Missouri River Activities Conference champ a 45-39 lead. Pella, like Heelan playing in its first championship game, couldn't catch up.
A short runner by Lund with 4:47 left opened a 49-43 margin and a Gritters putback with 2:20 remaining was the last Dutch basket.
"I can't say enough about Michelle Lund,'' sighed Moody. "She's been the heart and soul of what's been happening with our program.
"Millie had a big week, too, rebounding, defense, everything.''
Pella took a 20-12 lead after a quarter, thanks to three-point baskets from Dorman, Brillhart and reserve Makenzie VanderMolen.
VanderMolen's long archer from deep in the corner with 1.8 seconds left.
Heelan clawed its way back to within 29-26 at the half as Tritz contributed 11 points and Niggeling 10 before the break.
"I really couldn't figure out what they were doing with their defense,'' said Moody. "It was a combination of a zone and man. We made some adjustments, but it was diffrcult figuring them out.
"They have a very good team and great coaching.
"We didn't do a very good job rebounding the entire game, especially giving up points on their offensive board.''
"It was two evenly-matched teams,'' said Pella Coach Mike Vint. "We play 10 times, maybe we win five, but Heelan's very talented.
"We missed some shots, free throws, too, down the stretch that hurt.''
Pella (51)
Min FG-A FT-A RB A PF TP
Jenny Dorman 28 3 9 5 5 3 2 1 13
Sophie Metcalf 14 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
Kelsey Schuring 19 0 4 2 2 2 1 4 2
Brooke Gritters 29 8 15 3 7 10 0 2 21
Haley Brillhart 25 3 11 0 0 5 3 5 7
Makenzie VanderMolen 19 1 1 0 0 2 1 1 3
Isabel Metcalf 15 2 5 1 1 3 0 2 5
Jordyn Vande Lune 10 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0
Laryssa Klein 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Team 2
Totals 160 17 46 11 15 29 8 15 51
Bishop Heelan (54)
Min FG-A FT-A RB A PF TP
Bridgette Niles 16 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
Michelle Lund 32 6 12 0 1 4 0 2 16
Carli Tritz 30 7 11 5 5 1 5 3 19
Val Huser 11 0 0 0 0 3 0 1 0
Millie Niggeling 32 7 13 3 4 9 1 3 17
Amanda Hoffman 16 1 3 0 0 0 2 1 2
Maggie Vondrak 21 0 0 0 0 5 0 0 0
Olivia Horner 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Team
Totals 160 21 39 8 10 22 8 12 54
Score by halves:
Pella 20 9 10 12 51
Bishop Heelan 12 14 13 15 54
3-point shots Pella 6-15 (Dorman 2-5, Gritters 2-3, Brillhart 1-4, VanderMolen 1-1, I. Metcalf 0-1, Schuring 0-1), Bishop Heelan 4-7 (Lund 4-5, Tritz 0-1, Hoffman 0-1).
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WEGNERS, WICHITA KANSAS wrote on Mar 3, 2008 3:45 PM: