Cardinals advance

DES MOINES – Central Decatur is moving on in the 2A girls basketball playoff after topping Aplington-Parkersburg 57-49.

The win means the Cards will face Treynor Friday at 11:45 a.m. at Wells Fargo Arena in the Class 2A semifinals.

The Cardinals were slow to get scoring, falling behind 23-11 after the fist quarter, but Central Decatur held Aplington-Parkersburg to 12 points across the second and third quarters to reel the Falcons back.

Scores from the Falcons Megan Johnson helped put Aplington-Parkersburg ahead early. She tallied 13 points in the first half, going 5-6 from the field and converting on three 3-point opportunities. She finished with 17 points.

"I knew she was shooting well, and I don't think any (of her shots) missed in the first quarter," said CD head coach Curtis Boothe. "It's been a while since we've given up 23 in the first quarter and they came out hot from the start. ... We had to just finally get into our defense. ... We went back to man-to-man and that worked for us."

"We knew that she was a shooter and a driver," said Central Decatur's Emma Atwood. "We knew we had to stay low and play the drive ball and keep a hand on her. We didn't do too well but later on was definitely better."

The 23-0 Cardinals started to get into the form they've had leading up to today, finding their groove on offense.

Despite finding the scoring column with more ease in the second half, the deficit teetered around 10 points until the Cardinals found their scoring touch on an Erika Kauzlarich triple to pull the score to 31-29, the closest the game had been for the Cardinals since the opening possessions.

With a well traveled crowd behind them, the Cardinals took the lead on an Alli Masters three to make it 35-33 with 4:05 remaining third quarter.

Masters led in scoring for the Cardinals with 21 points.

A basket from the low post by Emma Atwood and a bonus free throw extended the lead to 47-43 as the clock hit under three minutes remaining.

A Masters swat following another Central Decatur score kept the lead late and the momentum in favor of the Cardinals at 49-43, giving them the opportunity to drain the clock with long possessions in the final two minutes of play.

With a lead intact, the Cardinals did a good job of holding off on fouling and causing turnovers as time dwindled.

"We knew that we were going to have to stay low," said Atwood. "With them being quick we knew that if we got up too close they would drive into us and draw a foul so we kind of had to back off a little. ... Staying in front of the ball helped us not pick up those fouls."

A stressful win for Boothe and Central Decatur may have caused the head coach to gray a little from the late lead change in favor of his Cardinals.

"The hair is turning grey," said Boothe. "Those one and ones down the stretch could have got me. ... We had our two best free throw shooters there shooting one and ones I felt comfortable, but we missed them and we kept playing. ... I'll keep the hair, it'll just be grey."

Central Decatur 57, Aplington-Parkersburg 49

APL-Parks (49) — 23 4 8 14

CD (57) — 11 11 16 19

APLINGTON-PARKERSBURG (FG FT PTS) — Totals —17 9-14 49. Megan Johnson 6 2-2 17, Sophia Jungling 3 1-4 8, Jenna Bruns 2 3-3 8, Avari Everts 2 2-2 6, Karson DeGroote 2 0-0 5, Ainsley Brungard 1 1-2 3, Jaycie Ellis 1 0-1 2. FG shooting — 17-41 (41.6 percent). 3-point goals – 6 (Johnson 3, Jungling 1, Bruns 1, DeGroote 1). Rebounds — 34 (Johnson 7, Bruns 5, Everts 5, Ellis 5, Brungard 3, McKenna Oldenburger 1, Sophia Jungling 1). Assists — 9 (Jungling 2, Johnson 2, Everts 2, Bruns 1, Ellis 1, Oldenburger 1). Steals — 7 (Bruns 4, Jungling 2, Ellis 1). Blocked shots — none. Turnovers — 22. Team fouls — 18. Fouled out — Everts.

CENTRAL DECATUR (FG FT PTS) — Totals — 17 18-24 57. Alli Masters 6 6-8 21, Emma Atwood 5 5-8 15, Alania Applegate 3 2-2 8, Erica Kauzlarich 2 0-0 6, Abbie Ridgway 1 2-2 4, Riley Bell 0 3-4 3 3. FG shooting — 17-51 (33.33 percent). 3-point goals – 5 (Masters 3, Kauzlarich 2). Rebounds — 31 (Atwood 8, Maizee Lindsey 6, Ridgeway 5, Masters 4, Bell 4, Kauzlarich 1, Applegate 1). Assists — 9 (Masters 2, Ridgeway 2, Atwood 2, Applegate 2, Bell 1). Steals — 6 (Masters 2, Atwood 2, Kauzlarich 1, Bell 1). Blocked shots — 9 (Masters 3, Bell 3, Applegate 2, Ridgeway 1). Turnovers – 12. Team fouls — 14. Fouled out —none.