Roundtree hurt as Warriors lose regional final
Tasha Roundtree was having the game of her life Tuesday night. And then disaster struck for the Washington Warriors.
Seventh-ranked Iowa City High advanced to the state tournament with a nailbiting 65-59 win over 13th-rated Washington in a Class 4A regional final at Kennedy High School.
The Little Hawks (17-6) will play No.2 Iowa City West (22-1) at the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines next Wednesday at 10 a.m.
The Warriors concluded the year 14-8 and may have had their season prematurely ended when Roundtree had to leave the game for good.
With the Warriors building on a 44-41 lead late in the third quarter and their flamboyant and inspirational leader playing brilliant basketball, Roundtree landed awkwardly near midcourt while leaping to make an interception. Play was stopped as she was helped from the court. City High won the fourth quarter 24-15 with Roundtree sobbing into her
game jersey for much of the final eight minutes from the sidelines. She did not return and was taken to the hospital after the game.
“She was having the game of her life,” Washington Coach Frank Howell said of his star point guard. “And she just seemed to be getting better as the game was progressing. She was doing everything just how I wanted her to do it and then some. It is sports and sometimes you get bad breaks.”
Howell did not know the extent of Roundtree’s injury, but it is believed to be a serious left knee injury. The 5-foot-7 senior suffered an ACL injury to her right knee two years ago.
“We had some bad breaks tonight,” Howell said. “She (Roundtree) was playing one of the better games she had ever played and we kind of had things going our way and she was kind of in the zone. She was doing it from different spots on the floor in different ways on both ends of the floor.
“Then she goes down and it changes the complexion of things. We also had foul issues with Jazz Royster and Abby Herb and I think that hurt a little bit too,” he said.
Herb had 14 points, seven rebounds and three assists, but was whistled for her fourth foul with 7:26 to play in the fourth quarter. She fouled out at the 4:46 mark.
Royster had two fouls in the first quarter and spent much of the first half on the bench. She finished with four points and took only three shots before fouling out with 2:21 left.
Roundtree led the Warriors with 19 points on 8-for-13 shooting, including a pair of first-half 3-pointers. She also had three rebounds and two steals. Just before the injury, Roundtree had netted a “circus shot” along the baseline, pumping her chest with her fist in front of the Warrior bench.
“It was just a wild night all around,” Howell said.
Washington had four more field goals (23) than City High (19), but the Little Hawks hit 25-of-37 free throws, including five in the final 1:30 to seal the win. Washington was just 9-of-17 from the foul line.
Washington hit 36 percent of all shots for the night. City High connected on 39 percent.
Iowa City High Coach Bill McTaggart said Roundtree’s injury was a game-changing moment. “I think her injury and their foul trouble was the key,” he said. “She was making circus shots on us. Holy cow. They have quickness and size. Washington is a tough team.
“Last year, we were up 12 points in the fourth quarter at Washington and they beat us,” McTaggart said. “That is a real good team and Frank does a nice job. It feels better when you beat a real good team.”
City High was led by Sierra Chambers with a game-high 22 points and 14 rebounds. She hit 8-of-12 shots and 6-of-10 from the stripe and scored 16 points in the second half. Her size and strength caused problems for the foul-riddled Warriors and McTaggart looked to go inside to the 6-foot-2 senior center.
“We never gave up, even when we were down,” Chambers said. “We've got to play our hearts out every game. Coach told us to pound it down in the low block. At halftime and in timeouts, he said to take it straight to them.”
McTaggart wanted to take advantage of Washington's foul problems.
“We were able to go inside a bit when they got into foul trouble,” he said. “And that was probably the key when we started to pound it inside.”
Talented guard Mickey Hansche added 18 points on 6-for-12 shooting and hit all six of her free throws for City High. Kiera Washpun added 13 points, including 9-of-12 free throws. Outstanding 6-2 sophomore Haley Lorenzen played a solid game despite a heavily tape hand, scoring 10 points and grabbing five rebounds.
Washington used an 11-4 run in the second quarter to lead 32-26 at halftime. The Warriors led by as many as eight points in the third stanza. In the fourth quarter with 5:50 left, Herb drained a 3-pointer and Madison Kramer had a layup off a Brooke Foreman steal and things looked good for the Warriors as they led, 50-43.
Herb fouled out shortly thereafter and City High forced two key turnovers with the fullcourt press. In a three-minute span, City High took a seven-point deficit and turned it into a five-point lead. That spurt proved to be the turning point.
City High won the rebound battle 34-22 and committed 19 turnovers (Washington had 14). The Little Hawks had only five players in the scoring column.
WASHINGTON (59): Abby Herb 5 3-4 14, Brooke Foreman 3 0-1 6, Colby Bjornson 0 0-0 0, Madison Kramer 1 0-0 2, Jazz Royster 2 0-0 4, Tasha Roundtree 8 1-2 19, Danielle Franklin 2 0-0 5, Aleena Hobbs 1 4-8 6, Kelli Klaus 1 1-2 3. Totals 23 9-17 59.
IOWA CITY HIGH (65): Kiera Washpun 2 9-12 13, Jordan Sullivan 0 0-0 0, Mickey Hansche 6 4-6 18, Harper Beasley 0 2-2 2, Sierra Chambers 8 6-10 22, Haley Lorenzen 3 4-7 10, Aliyah Gustafson 0 0-0 0, Erin Danielson 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 25-37 65.
Halftime - Washington, City High 26. 3-point goals – Washington 4 (Roundtree 2, Herb 1, Franklin 1), City High 2 (Hansche 2).
