Back-to-Back: Baxter girls clinch second straight Iowa Star South title

BAXTER — Baxter’s girls basketball team hasn’t faced much adversity this season.

Only two of its 17 games have been decided by single digits. Both times, Meskwaki Settlement School was on the other bench.

In the latest meeting, the Warriors led for three quarters but the Bolts were up to the challenge and found a way to win despite shooting just 25 percent from the floor and committing 19 turnovers.

Baxter took a lead with an Ally Padget 3-pointer early in the fourth and Elie Tuhn finished off the victory from the free-throw line during a 42-36 home victory on Tuesday.

“At the end of the third quarter, we talked about how we knew everyone was frustrated because things weren’t going our way and shots weren’t going in,” Baxter girls basketball coach Eric Padget said. “I challenged them to dig deep. We needed to get every rebound and we couldn’t turn the ball over. I think we did that in the fourth and were able to pull it out.”

The victory for Baxter clinched at least a share of the Iowa Star Conference South Division title for the second straight season. The Bolts locked up the outright title with a road win over North Tama three days later.

Meskwaki Settlement School played within nine points of the Bolts at home in December. And were even better against Baxter on the road the second time around. Coach Padget said the Warriors’ zone defense gives his squad trouble.

“They play a solid zone defense. We didn’t shoot great,” Coach Padget said. “We had open shots, but they close out on you really fast and they rebound well out of it, too. It’s hard to rebound out of a zone sometimes, but they do a great job with that.”

Baxter (17-0 overall, 10-0 in the conference) fell behind 10-3 in the first. The Bolts ended the quarter with an 8-4 run to close the gap, but the Warriors went back in front 19-11 in the second.

Tuhn did her best to keep the home team in the game, scoring eight of the team’s 18 first-half points. A putback by Abbie Meyer ended the half with Baxter down 22-18.

The Bolts drew even with the Warriors (12-4, 6-3) twice in the third on buckets inside the lane by Mandee Selover and Lilie Vansice. They couldn’t quite get over the hump until the fourth though.

Ally Padget’s 3 with 6:54 to play in the game put Baxter in front for the first time and then Vansice’s three-point play with 5:33 to go made it 35-30.

Tuhn brought it home from there as she got fouled after grabbing an offensive rebound and made both free throws. She connected on four more freebies with less than 3 minutes to go to keep Baxter in front.

The Bolts outscored Meskwaki 13-5 in the fourth.

“It was a little nerve wracking, but we handled it well and stayed calm,” Tuhn said. “We always rely on our defense and our intensity. If we get down, we just work hard to try to get back in it.”

Coach Padget said getting the ball in Tuhn’s hands late in the game was by design. He trusts his senior point guard to make the right decisions with the game on the line.

“It’s such a blessing to have a player like her who you completely trust to do the right thing 99 times out of 100,” Coach Padget said.

Tuhn led the Bolts with 16 points, four rebounds and three assists, but she also drew the main defensive responsibility against Wakinyala Bear, who came into the game averaging more than 20 points per game.

Bear was held to 12 points and Emie Tuhn limited Geanna Bear to three points. Geanna Bear came into the game averaging more than 12 points per contest.

“Emie, and Elie to an extent, gave up a lot of offensive scoring in order to play amazing defense,” Coach Padget said. “We’ve counted on Emie’s defense all year and she always comes through.

“It’s a veteran team and each one of our kids will do exactly what it takes to win a game. I loved her 3-pointer, but Ally (Padget) took two charges, too. And Elie (Tuhn) took a charge. I love that.”

Elie Tuhn was the only Baxter player to score in double figures. Vansice finished with eight points, two assists and two steals, Selover registered five points and 11 rebounds and Emie Tuhn posted three points and 12 boards.

Ally Padget finished with four points and three assists. Bree Buswell chipped in four points and two rebounds off the bench and Abbie Meyer came off the bench to grab five boards.

The Bolts shot 25 percent from the floor, 2-of-21 from 3-point range and 14-of-21 from the free-throw line. They out-rebounded the Warriors 36-33.

Wakinyala Bear led the Warriors with 12 points, nine rebounds and five steals. Elie Tuhn said it took a total team effort to slow her down.

“She’s very fast, but we did a good job of help defense,” Elie Tuhn said. “I couldn’t always stay with her, but the team really played defense well and we adjusted quickly to what they were doing.”

Notes: The Bolts shared the Iowa Star Conference South Division title with Collins-Maxwell last season. They will celebrate the outright title with a net cutting ceremony after their home game against GMG on Feb. 1. “I am really proud of everyone. We have all worked really hard to get to this point,” Elie Tuhn said. … The Bolts remain the only undefeated team in the entire state who is not in the current rankings. … The next two closest games for Baxter this season were the 12- and 15-point wins over Collins-Maxwell.