The 5A top ranked Indianola girls earned a trip to Wells Fargo Arena for the third straight season and became the third Little Hawkeye Conference team to qualify for state with a 71-36 win over Sioux City East in their Class 5A Regional Final last night as heard live on the KNIA2 stream.
Sioux City East scored the first basket a minute into the game but that lead was short lived as Indianola answered with a three from Haley Vesey and a quick two from Grace Berg and never looked back leading by 12 after one quarter, 17 at halftime, 22 after three quarters and eventually the 35 point win.
Indianola Head Coach Bert Hanson told KNIA/KRLS Sports it’ll be a quick celebration as there’s more this team wants to accomplish… “It’s always a great feeling to get back to Wells Fargo , it’s fun to get to the State Tournament…you play the best of the best in the games that you have there so you’ve got to be at your finest . These girls have been on a mission all year and I really think we’re gonna go and redeem ourselves from the past two years so that’s our goal. Being undefeated is quite an honor in itself but there’s still basketball to be played”
The past two seasons Indianola was one and out at the state tournament. Senior Haley Vesey says since the loss last season their goal has been not just to qualify but to win state: “Our goal was just to get to state before we didn’t really have any other aspirations past that point, but being there and losing by 20 each time we realized we need to set our goals a little higher so at the beginning of our first practice this season we decided we’re gonna win state that’s our goal and we need to work as hard as we can every practice and game , we need enthusiasm, energy and team work and that’s what we’ve done so far but we’re not done”
In addition to the excitement of the win, Junior Grace Berg, who led all scorers with 25 points became Indianola’s all time leading scorer and was honored late in the game. Vesey added 14 points and despite an illness Maggie McGraw added 11 as Indianola improved to 23-0 and will face #8 Johnston in a game that will feature two of the top post players in the nation in Berg along with Johnston’s Taryn Knuth to open the Class 5A Girls State Tournament on Wednesday at 1:30pm at Wells Fargo Arena. You can follow the Indians through the State Tournament on KNIA.