-Messenger photo by Britt Kudla
Danyal Fothergill of North Union attempts to save the ball from going out of bounds against Lake Mills during 1A quarterfinals on Monday inside Wells Fargo Arena
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DES MOINES — The No. 6-seeded North Union Warriors effectively utilized the 3-point arc to erase a pair of double-figure deficits in each half, but could not quite either tie or take the lead during their Iowa Class 1A state boys basketball debut on Monday afternoon.
Aiden Stensrud netted a double-double of 11 points and a game-high 15 rebounds, while Logan Bacon tossed in 13 points and grabbed seven boards to help the No. 3-seeded Lake Mills Bulldogs collar the Warriors, 58-50, during state quarterfinal play at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.
Lake Mills (25-1), whose only blemish of the season was a 47-43 loss to North Union on Dec. 19, advances to face No. 2-seeded Marquette Catholic, Bellevue (26-1) in a 7:15 p.m. state semifinal Wednesday night back in Des Moines. Marquette Catholic eliminated No. 7-seeded Gladbrook-Reinbeck (21-6) with a 45-36 quarterfinal decision.
“If we can do all the little things right and a couple of the big things, then I’ll be happy with our effort today,” North Union head coach Alex Fisher said during the pregame.
The Warriors closed out their history-making season with a 22-4 overall record.
With back-to-back 3-pointers from Lance Helming and Eli Menke triggering the Bulldogs’ early 10-0 surge and 14-3 first-quarter lead, Aiden Lofstrom’s baseline floater off one of Kyan Jones’ four assists just before the buzzer ignited the Warriors’ answering run.
Preston Guerdet, who entered the game with a team-leading 50 trifectas, used his long-distance shooting skills to serve as North Union’s second-quarter offensive catalyst.
Guerdet, who finished with 11 points, snapped the nets on a pair of 3-pointers around Lake Mills guard Jackson Gaul’s trey.
Lofstrom, who topped the Warriors with 13 points and a co-team-best five boards, cashed in a threaded Kyan Jones pass for an endline leaner before Lofstrom stepped behind the arc and buried a trey to whittle the Bulldogs’ lead to 19-18.
Bacon, however, answered by burying a pair of 3-pointers and hit a runner in traffic to rebuild Lake Mills’ lead to 27-21. Ironically, Bacon, who entered the state quarterfinal with a 3.5-point scoring clip, finished with 13 on the game.
Lance Helming, who topped the Bulldogs’ balanced attack with 15 points, nailed a right-wing 3-pointer off one of Jackson Gaul’s game-best six assists to help trigger Lake Mills’ 34-25 halftime lead.
Helming reeled off seven straight points for the Bulldogs during the third quarter to extend the lead to 47-34 with only 8 minutes remaining in regulation.
Grady Madden and North Union, however, did not panic as the green-and-black attack knocked down three 3-pointers to erupt for a 14-0 surge to inch within 49-48 with 2:25 remaining.
Madden opened the barrage with a trey before Kyan Jones transformed a midcourt steal into a layup. Kody Irmiter buried a 3-pointer coming out of a Lake Mills’ timeout at the 6-minute mark before Dan Fothergill went the distance following a midcourt theft.
Guerdet drilled a right-wing 3-pointer off a Lofstrom feed before Madden sank a solo free throw to narrow the Warriors’ gap to only one.
Stensrud worked the offensive glass for a putback basket, Gaul swooshed two free throws and Helming added two more charity tosses to help the Bulldogs build a 55-48 lead with only 57 seconds to go.
Irmiter, Fothergill and Madden all finished with seven points for North Union, with Madden doling out four assists and Fothergill also contributing five boards and three steals.
Menke tossed in 10 points for Lake Mills, while Gaul added seven points to complement his six assists.
NU 7-18- 9-16–50
LM 16-18-13-11–58
NORTH UNION (50)
Kody Irmiter 3-8 0-0 7, Aiden Lofstrom 6-8 0-0 13, Dan Fothergill 3-11 1-2 7, Preston Guerdet 4-18 0-0 11, Kyan Jones 2-5 0-0 4, Grady Madden 2-5 1-2 7, Drew Henderson 0-0 1-2 1, Khael Jones 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 20-56 3-6 50.
LAKE MILLS (58)
Jackson Gaul 2-7 2-4 7, Aiden Stensrud 4-7 3-4 11, Lance Helming 5-7 4-8 15, Eli Menke 4-13 0-0 10, Logan Bacon 4-6 3-7 13, Chace Gaetzke 1-1 0-1 2. Totals 20-42 12-24 58.
3-pointers: North Union 7-24 (Guerdet 3, Madden 2, Lofstrom and Irmiter 1 each); Lake Mills 6-17 (Bacon and Menke 2 each; Helming and Gaul 1 each). Fouled out: Fothergill. Rebounds: Lake Mills 43 (Stensrud 15, Helming 8); North Union 23 (Lofstrom and Fothergill 5 each). Assists: North Union 12 (Kyan Jones and Madden 4 each); Lake Mills 9 (Gaul 6). Steals: North Union 9 (Fothergill and Guerdet 3 each); Lake Mills 5.