Bishop Garrigan’s girls basketball program has made the Mason City High School gymnasium their home away from home over the years, and they made themselves at home once again on Wednesday night for Class 1A – Region 4 championship. The number four ranked Golden Bears employed lethal three point shooting and stifling defense to defeat #12 Saint Ansgar 73-44, punching their ticket to state for the sixth straight season, and 10th time in program history.
Saint Ansgar’s final lead of the game would be 4-2 in the first quarter, after which Bishop Garrigan embarked on a 19-0 run to end the first. Emmi Bartolo scored the first six Bishop Garrigan points, with a jumper from the foul line to put the Golden Bears up 6-4, but that would merely serve as an entree for what was coming next.
A drive to the bucket for a layup by Sacha Alesch put Bishop Garrigan up 12-4 and forced the first timeout by Saint Ansgar, as Bishop Garrigan’s first 12 points came on either two point shots or free throws, but the three point dimension would emerge coming out of the timeout.
Bartolo’s pull-up three from the top of the key on Bishop Garrigan’s second possession out of the timeout made the score 15-4 Golden Bears, a Carley Nielson offensive board led to another Bartolo three, and an in bounds play got the Bishop Garrigan junior loose for a three from the corner, as Bartolo’s three triples made the score 21-4 at the end of one.
Bishop Garrigan senior Zoe Montag says three point shooting has been a consistent area of focus for the Golden Bears.
The Saints responded with a scoring run of 8-1 to begin the second quarter, making the score 22-12, then after the teams traded twos, Bartolo’s fourth three of the game forced another timeout and made the score 27-14. This would kick off a scoring run of 19-0 by Bishop Garrigan, as Alesch had a layup and three triples, scoring 11 of the 19 Bishop Garrigan points during the push to halftime. Bartolo capped off the first half with her fifth three, and it was 43-17 Bishop Garrigan by the time the break hit, as the Saints eventually hit three free throws to break up the Golden Bear run.
Bishop Garrigan Head Coach Brandon Schwab saw the team was hot early, and let them continue the momentum.
Bartolo drilled another three in the second half, bringing her total to six. The Bishop Garrigan junior finished with a career high of 26 points, one year after setting her previous career high of 21 in last year’s regional championship game win over Riceville inside of the very same gym at Mason City. Bartolo made 9 of 14 shots from the field and 6 of 9 three pointers. Alesch finished with 16 points, while Graclyn Eastman added 19 and 13 rebounds, her 14th double double of the season for the victorious Golden Bears.
Bishop Garrigan totaled 10 three point makes in 23 attempts, and also knocked down 13/19 free throws, while turning the ball over just five times, compared to 19 for Saint Ansgar, during an efficient offensive night.
Jacey Johnston paced Saint Ansgar with 16 points and 12 rebounds in the loss, while Amelia Porisch added 13. The Saints end the season with a record of 18-6, as their season comes to an end at the hands of Bishop Garrigan for the third straight season, after the Golden Bears defeated the Saints in the regional semifinals each of the past two seasons. Saint Ansgar was the first non-Riceville regional final opponent for the Golden Bears since 2021, as the Golden Bears had defeated Riceville in the regional championship game each of the past three seasons.
Bishop Garrigan improves to 22-3, and punches their state ticket for the sixth straight season and tenth time in program history. Four of the last five regional final wins for Bishop Garrigan have come inside of the Mason City gymnasium, a place Schwab calls “Garrigan East.”
Bishop Garrigan will take the number four seed into a matchup with fifth seeded Montezuma on March 5th in the class 1A quarterfinals at 3:15. The winner will play on March 7th against the winner of top-seeded St. Albert and eighth-seeded Dunkerton.
Although the Golden Bears are thrilled to be returning to the state tournament, Montag knows the job isn’t finished yet.
Live coverage of the game can be heard on KLGA 92.7 FM and KLGZ 98.5 FM/AM 1600.
