Storm Lake Times Pilot

St. Mary’s gets past Le Mars Gehlen, sets school record for wins in a season


St. Mary’s Sydney Hurd attempts a shot against Le Mars Gehlen’s Nevaeh Hodgson and Miyah Whitehead during Tuesday’s game. TIMES photo by JAMIE KNAPP

In the postseason it’s all about surviving and advancing, and that’s just what Storm Lake St. Mary’s did.

The Panthers survived a gritty Le Mars Gehlen team and survived foul trouble to advance to the regional semifinals after a 53-47 win over the Jays in a Class 1A regional quarterfinal game on Tuesday at St. Mary’s.

St. Mary’s (21-1), which set a school record for most wins in a season, will play Westwood (20-2) in a regional semifinal game today at 7 p.m. in Ida Grove.

Two of St. Mary’s leading players — Danika Demers and Sydney Hurd — had four fouls in the fourth quarter, but managed to stay on the floor. One of Gehlen’s top players — Miyah Whitehead — didn’t as she fouled out with over 7 minutes to go in the game.

That proved to be vital as St. Mary’s began to pull away after that. The Panthers grabbed a seven-point lead with less than 2 minutes remaining before holding off a late rally by the Jays.

St. Mary’s jumped out to a 12-3 lead early after a basket by Demers, but Gehlen pulled to within 17-11 by the end of the first quarter.

The Panthers extended their lead to as much as 10 at 23-13 in the second quarter, but Hurd picked up her third foul with 4:36 left and a 25-18 Panther lead. That propelled a 12-2 run by Gehlen in which the Jays took a 30-27 lead after a layup by Lauren Heying.

Demers, however, made a 25-foot shot at the buzzer to tie it at 30-30 at the half.

Both teams struggled to score in the third quarter and it ended tied at 38-38 heading to the fourth quarter.

Whitehead picked up her fifth foul at the 7:15 mark. Two minutes later, Demers picked up her fourth foul. The Jays led 40-39 when Demers and Karley Mills each made two free throws for a 43-40 lead.

Hurd picked up her fourth foul at the 3:48 mark, but moments later Demers would make a 3-pointer to give the Panthers a 46-41 lead.

A basket by Emily Nothwehr made it 48-41 with 1:50 remaining, but Gehlen went on a 6-1 run to pull within   49-47 with 1:02 to go. The Jays came up with a steal on the   St. Mary’s inbounds pass with a chance to tie the game, but turned the ball over.

Hurd made two free throws and Demers scored on a layup in the last 30 seconds.

Demers finished with 23 points to lead all scorers. Hurd added 13 and Nothwehr 10. Ellie Bacon chipped in five points and Mills two.

Hurd charted nine rebounds. Demers had seven, Mills five and Nothwehr four. Demers tallied six assists, Nothwehr three steals and Hurd two blocked shots.

St. Mary’s made 17 of 48 field goals for 35 percent, including 5 of 19 from 3-point.