maly, too: Coach Joe Sigrist and His Valley Girls Didn't Need Photographic Evidence That They Were Flirting With Elimination From the State 5-A Basketball Tournament At Halftime. They Got Their Act Together After Trailing, 20-17, and Wound Up Burying Iowa City West, 57-41. The No. 1-Ranked Tigers Play No. 2 Waukee for the Championship At 8 p.m. Saturday In An All-CIML Game That Could Be a Classic

Friday, March 6, 2015

Coach Joe Sigrist and His Valley Girls Didn't Need Photographic Evidence That They Were Flirting With Elimination From the State 5-A Basketball Tournament At Halftime. They Got Their Act Together After Trailing, 20-17, and Wound Up Burying Iowa City West, 57-41. The No. 1-Ranked Tigers Play No. 2 Waukee for the Championship At 8 p.m. Saturday In An All-CIML Game That Could Be a Classic

By RON MALY

I'm glad I remembered to bring my camera.

At halftime of today's noon game in the state girls' high school basketball tournament, I felt compelled to take a photo of the scoreboard at Wells Fargo Arena.

I was hoping Valley coach Joe Sigrist or one of his assistants also took the same photo so it could be shown to the Tiger players at halftime.

Then, again, Sigrist probably didn't need to take a picture of the scoreboard, which showed Iowa City West leading No. 1-ranked Valley, 20-17, and his players didn't need to see photographic evidence of their sub-par performance.

They knew they played poorly in the first 16 minutes, and if they didn't get get their act together, they'd be watching Saturday night's class 5-A championship game on TV in their homes.

Save the sadness,

Forget the shame-on-you stuff the players were going to hear from the Valley faithful.

No such embarrassment befell a team that has lost just twice all season.

Valley finally got its show on the road in the third and fourth quarters, displaying improved shooting, overpowering accuracy at the free throw line and superior rebounding,

The Tigers wound up steamrolling West, 57-41, to reach Saturday night's title game [for the third time in history] against No. 2-ranked Waukee [23-2], which won today's second class 5-A game, 42-32, over Dowling.

The Valley-Waukee matchup, which starts at 8 o'clock, could be a classic. It sends the state's No. 1-ranked team against the No. 2 team, and it's another all-Central Iowa Metropolitan League battle for the championship.

It's obvious that the best girls' high school basketball in the state year in and year out is played in the CIML.

Valley and Waukee played once during the regular season, and the Tigers won, 72-66, at Waukee.

Obviously, that will mean nothing tomorrow night.

In this afternoon's first game, Iowa City West actually made two more field goals than Valley, but the the Tigers drilled 28 of 39 free throws to 7 of 14 for West.

The officials called 26 fouls against West, 18 against Valley.

I thought the three zebras were determined to set a state tournament record for traveling calls.

All in all, I hope those clowns aren't assigned to the 5-A championship game.

Their presence would ruin a heck of a championship matchup.

Frankly, as sluggish as the Tigers were in the first half against a West team they defeated soundly in January at Iowa City, they were fortunate to be trailing by only 3 points at intermission.

Valley connected on just 4 of 24 field goal attempts for a paltry 16.7 percent, and was outrebounded by West, 26-13, in the opening two quarters.

Also missing was the Tigers' tenaciousness, which has carried them to victory after victory this season, even when their shooting and rebounding were below Valley's standards.

Grace Vander Weide, the all-state guard and a Missouri State recruit who has been a strong leader this season and last for Sigrist's teams, was 2-for-10 from the field while leading the Tigers in scoring with just five points in the opening half.

She finished with a game-high 18, and hauled down 10 rebounds as Valley improved its record to 23-2.

Valley outscored West, 40-21, in the last half, and wound up with a 40-38 rebounding advantage.

Dani Craig, a Cal State-Fullerton recruit, led West with 15 points.

Tomorrow night's matchup will mark the third appearance in the championship game for Valley, which lost to Cedar Rapids Washington in 1995 and was beaten by South Hamilton in the 1965 six-player championship game.

Iowa City West 22-3
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
No. Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
02 Lozano-Dobbs, Bella. *  0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   5   0  1  1  0  0   7
05 Tafolla, Grace...... *  3-9    1-6    2-2    0  0  0   3   9  1  1  0  3  29
10 Tauchen, Ali........ *  2-4    0-0    0-1    4  7 11   5   4  1  3  1  0  21
14 Craig, Dani......... *  6-16   2-7    1-3    1  5  6   0  15  1  5  0  2  32
24 Morgan, Mikaela..... *  3-10   0-2    1-4    3  2  5   4   7  0  4  0  0  21
11 Fay, Maddie.........    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   1   0  0  0  0  0  0+
13 Saunders, Rachael...    0-6    0-2    1-2    1  0  1   4   1  1  1  0  0  18
15 McGrane, Katie......    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   1   0  0  1  0  0   1
20 Huinker, Maddie.....    1-4    1-3    0-0    0  0  0   0   3  0  0  0  1   7
22 Cook, Logan.........    0-1    0-0    2-2    0  3  3   2   2  0  1  0  0   5
23 Harder, Jessie......    0-3    0-2    0-0    1  2  3   1   0  0  1  0  0  12
25 Morgan, Andrea......    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0  0+
40 Halverson, Emily....    0-1    0-0    0-0    1  4  5   0   0  0  2  0  0   7
   TEAM................                         1  3  4
   Totals..............   15-54   4-22   7-14  12 26 38  26  41  5 20  1  6 160

TOTAL FG% 1st Half:  8-24 33.3%   2nd Half:  7-30 23.3%   Game: 27.8%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  2-8  25.0%   2nd Half:  2-14 14.3%   Game: 18.2%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  2-2  100 %   2nd Half:  5-12 41.7%   Game: 50.0%    4


West Des Moines Valley 23-2
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
No. Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
11 Fuller, Whitney..... *  1-4    0-3   10-14   1  5  6   4  12  4  5  0  0  31
15 Vander Weide, Grace. *  5-16   1-7    7-8    2  8 10   1  18  2  4  0  2  32
21 Smith, Emily........ *  1-1    0-0    0-0    1  1  2   2   2  0  0  0  0  15
35 Fuller, Hannah...... *  3-5    1-1    1-3    0  6  6   3   8  0  1  0  1  24
43 Merritt, Lexi....... *  1-6    1-4    2-2    1  1  2   3   5  0  0  0  1  23
01 Carr, Casey.........    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  1  0  0   2
03 Lodermeier, Leah....    0-0    0-0    1-2    0  1  1   0   1  0  0  0  0  0+
05 Loecke, Jadyn.......    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   1   0  0  0  0  0   1
13 Feldt, Jackie.......    0-2    0-1    2-2    2  2  4   1   2  0  3  1  4  17
25 Feldt, Jamie........    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0  0+
31 Hale, Kelcie........    0-1    0-1    2-2    0  0  0   0   2  0  0  0  0   1
33 Carr, Courtney......    2-7    0-1    3-6    3  4  7   3   7  0  1  2  0  14
53 Meeks, Alayna.......    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0  0+
55 Ward, Mackenzie.....    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0  0+
   TEAM................                            2  2
   Totals..............   13-42   3-18  28-39  10 30 40  18  57  6 15  3  8 160

TOTAL FG% 1st Half:  4-24 16.7%   2nd Half:  9-18 50.0%   Game: 31.0%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  1-11  9.1%   2nd Half:  2-7  28.6%   Game: 16.7%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  8-12 66.7%   2nd Half: 20-27 74.1%   Game: 71.8%    4


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Officials: Royce Ranninger, Jason Slaughter, Dave Schonrock
Technical fouls: Iowa City West-None. West Des Moines Valley-None.
Attendance:
Score by Periods                1st  2nd  3rd  4th   Total
Iowa City West................   11    9    7   14  -   41
West Des Moines Valley........    8    9   13   27  -   57
FOULED OUT: ICW #2 Lozano-Dobbs at 2:43 in the 4th
            ICW #10 Tauchen at 1:43 in the 4th

Points in the paint-IC-WEST 16,VALLEY 18. Points off turnovers-IC-WEST 13,VALLEY 14.
2nd chance points-IC-WEST 6,VALLEY 12. Fast break points-IC-WEST 2,VALLEY 2.
Bench points-IC-WEST 6,VALLEY 12. Score tied-8 times. Lead changed-5 times.
Last FG-IC-WEST 4th-01:05, VALLEY 4th-00:43.
Largest lead-IC-WEST by 4 2nd-02:57, VALLEY by 16 4th-00:05.

JOLTIN' JOE GOT IT STARTED

When Ron Maly was a kid in Cedar Rapids, he wanted to enter an essay contest, and he did. He wrote about Joe DiMaggio of the New York Yankees being his favorite baseball player. For finishing second in the contest, Ron won a Louisville Slugger baseball bat autographed by DiMaggio. Ron later wanted to be the first person in his family to attend college, and he was. He earned a degree in political science from the University of Iowa, and did what all political science majors do. He became a sportswriter. He had, after all, covered high school football, basketball and baseball games for the Cedar Rapids Gazette while he worked parttime during his university days. Ron wanted to sit in the press box and write about an Iowa-Minnesota football game, and he did. It happened while he was the sports editor at the Albert Lea [Minn.] Tribune, and the game was at Memorial Stadium in Minneapolis. Ron wanted to cover a World Series, and he did. Also when he was working for the Albert Lea newspaper. Ron wanted to cover Rose Bowls, Sugar Bowls, Orange Bowls, Cotton Bowls, Holiday Bowls, a Freedom Bowl, a Sun Bowl, a Super Bowl and NCAA basketball tournaments, and he did those things after he moved to Des Moines. Ron was a four-time sportswriter of the Year in the state of Iowa [the years were 1977, 1978, 1994 and 1996]. In 2006, he was named a charter member of the University of Iowa's media Wall of Fame in the Kinnick Stadium press box. A photo of the plaque that's displayed in the press box is displayed above this story. Following Ron's retirement from the newspaper business, a publisher asked him if he wanted to write a book about the rich football tradition at the University of Iowa, and he did. The hardback version of "Tales from the Iowa Sidelines" was a best-seller, and so was the revised, softback version. Now he's been asked by his publisher to update the book for a second time. He's in the process of doing that at the present time. Ron considers being asked to update a best-selling book for the second time to be the supreme compliment, considering the Hawkeyes won just four games in the 2012 season. When Ron isn't working on books, he's busy traveling and spending time with his family. Indeed, he attends the athletic, theatrical and musical [both vocal and instrumental] events in which his six grandchildren participate. He also writes about anything that interests him for his many websites. Every chance he gets, Ron proudly wears his America Needs Farmers T-shirt.

The Hawkeyes' Rich Football Tradition, Revisited

I mentioned a while back that I was in the process of updating my Tales from the Iowa Sidelines book. Updating it for the second time. The original hardback edition of Tales from the Iowa Sidelines [pictured at the right] was published in 2003, during the 10-3 season, when coach Kirk Ferentz and his Iowa football team had a 10-3 record that included a 37-17 victory over 15th-ranked Florida in the Outback Bowl and after the Hawkeyes went 11-2 in 2002. That book was a best-seller, so the publishers came to me again in 2005, a season that finished with a breathtaking 30-25 victory over No. 11 Louisiana State in the Capital One Bowl on New Year's Day, 2005. Because buyers had cleaned out the the shelves in the bookstores, the publishers wanted to know if I'd do an updated version of the book. I agreed, The revised, soft-cover edition [pictured at the left] was published in 2005. Warren Holloway, who teamed with quarterback Drew Tate on a miraculous 56-yard touchdown pass to win the Capital One Bowl, was featured on the cover. That book, too, turned into a best-seller, So I had reason to feel very good about my years as a published author. It's not every day that a the original version is a best-seller, and so is the updated version. Then, imagine my surprise when I received an e-mail from a senior editor at the publishing company last fall, wanting wanted to know if I was interested in doing a second updated version of the book. It came at a time when things weren't going well for the Hawkeyes in the 2012 season. They lost their last six games and finished with a 4-8 record. Frankly, the thought of doing a revised edition of the book during a 4-8 season seemed to be a stretch. "Maybe producing a revised edition in a year or two would be a better idea," I told the publishers. "We'd like to do it now," I was told. "Let me think about it," I said. After a few days of thought, I accepted the idea. I talked myself into the idea that this was the supreme compliment--being asked to do a second book update during a 4-8 season showed strong confidence by the publishers in me and in the Hawkeyes' football program. So I got back into the business of interviewing players and coaches again, going to postgame press conferences, weekly press conferences and a scrimmage in West Des Moines. After a press conference in Iowa City, I did a one-on-one interview with coach Kirk Ferentz, and mentioned to him that I was in the process of doing a revised edition of my two best-selling books. I congratulated him on the excellent things he had done for Iowa's football program--all of which contributed to the success of my books. "I think Coach Fry had more to do with it," he told me, bringing up the name of Hayden Fry, his one-time boss at Iowa and a man who brought Iowa's football program back from the dead in the 20th century. That's modest Kirk Ferentz for you. Even though the 2012 season wasn't something Hawkeye coaches, players and fans will recall with any special feeling, Ferentz has a 14-year record of 100-74 at Iowa that includes two 11-victory seasons [2002 smd 2009], two 10-victory seasons [2003 and 2004], plus he's been the Big Ten coach of year in 2002, 2004 and 2009, and national coach of the year in 2002. Indeed, Ferentz has done some wonderful things at Iowa City, and I fully expect his success to continue. I've concluded my writing for the second update of Tales from the Iowa Sidelines, and the senior editor has furnished me with an early look at the book. Not only are the Kirk Ferentz years included in the updated version, but so is the stuff I previously wrote about Howard Jones, Dr. Eddie Anderson, Heisman Trophy winner Nile Kinnick and the 1939 Hawkeye Ironmen, Ronald Reagan, Ozzie Simmons, Ossie Solem, Randy Duncan, Alex Karras and lots of other legends from Iowa's rich football history. I expect the book to be in stores soon. I hope you like it.