The Bishop Garrigan Golden Bears girls basketball team is going back to the class 1A state championship game after putting the clamps on the Dunkerton Raiders in a 49-38 state semifinal round win Friday afternoon at the Casey’s Center in Des Moines.
Dunkerton, who came into the game with the best field goal percentage in class 1A, and the number three scoring offense at over 68 points per game, struggled to find answers against the Golden Bears all afternoon, scoring just 23 points through the first three quarters as Bishop Garrigan built a 20 point lead.
With Dunkerton leading 5-2, Emmi Bartolo jumpstarted the Bishop Garrigan offense, hitting a three point shot at the 3:23 mark of the first to tie the game, then a couple minutes later hit another one to give Bishop Garrigan the lead. Ava Roethler would add a triple of her own in the first, as Bishop Garrigan scored the last 12 points to take a 14-5 lead.
Bartolo felt the early shots were good confidence builders after a cold shooting day in Wednesday’s quarterfinal round.
The three point shots dried up after the first, as Bishop Garrigan only made one more for the rest of the game, but relied instead on driving downhill to the basket. Bartolo tallied 17 points to pace Bishop Garrigan, while sophomore Madelyn Tigges posted 14. Bishop Garrigan would finish the night with a 26-12 advantage in points in the paint.
Bartolo credited a patient offensive approach.
Bishop Garrigan Head Coach Brandon Schwab emphasized making the defense respect Bishop Garrigan’s ability to drive the basketball.
Defensively, the Golden Bears made things tough on the biggest offensive threats of the Raiders, limiting Kylee Pexa to eight points on 3/14 shooting. Hailey Kipp scored 11 points with 12 rebounds to lead Dunkerton in both categories, but finished just 4/19 from the field. Ava Fuelling, who came off a 22 point game in the quarterfinals, had just 6 on 2/9 from the field.
Schwab liked the way the Golden Bears kept Pexa away from the paint.
Junior Graclyn Eastman felt it was a team effort with her and senior Carley Nielson to keep Kipp under control.
The game appeared to be well in hand, but Dunkerton refused to go down easily at the end, as an influx of fourth quarter turnovers allowed the Raiders to get the game to a seven point margin, and they twice missed three pointers that would have cut the game to four. The Golden Bears turned it over four times in a less than 60 second stretch, as the Raiders made a 7-0 run, punctuated by a Fuelling three with under a minute to go. Going further back, it was a 15-2 push by Dunkerton over about a four and a half minute stretch of basketball that included three Raider three pointers.
Schwab felt the inexperience of some of the younger players, combined with the desperation of the Raiders, led to the run.
The Golden Bears didn’t waiver, making all six of their free throws in the final quarter, closing out the game and earning their fifth trip to the state title game in seven years, the first since 2023.
Bishop Garrigan’s shooting percentages finished well below their season averages, at 31.5% from the field (17/54), and 23.5% on 3s (4/17). However, the Golden Bears limited Dunkerton to 22% (13/59) on field goals, and 23.1% (6/26) on 3s, numbers that went up in the final couple of minutes as the Raiders made a run to get back into the game. Bishop Garrigan has not allowed a single opponent in the postseason to hit 30% shooting from the field. Golden Bear playoff opponents are now collectively 10/87 on three pointers.
Eastman credited Bishop Garrigan’s ability to be ready for physicality for the win.
Dunkerton ends their season 23-3, while Bishop Garrigan improves to 24-2. The Golden Bears face the second-seeded Newell-Fonda Mustangs at seven on Saturday night, attempting to win their third state title in program history, joining the back to back 2022 and 2023 teams for Bishop Garrigan.
After watching her older sister win a state championship as a player at Bishop Garrigan, sophomore Madelyn Tigges says it has always been a goal of hers to do the same.
Newell-Fonda outlasted defending state champion St. Albert 50-45 in the semifinals on Friday in a rematch of last year’s title game. Coverage of Saturday night’s game can be heard live starting at 6:40 on KLGA 92.7 FM and KLGZ 98.5 FM/AM 1600.
