ST. LOUIS (AP) — Donte Ingram had 13 points and eight rebounds, Marques Townes had 13 points and the game-clinching free throw with 2.3 seconds remaining and top-seeded Loyola Chicago held off ninth-seeded Northern Iowa 54-50 on Friday in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament quarterfinals.

Ingram’s layup with 57.7 seconds to go had the Ramblers (26-5), who have their most wins since the 1948-49 team went 26-9, up 51-43. A putback by Klint Carlson at 48.1 seconds and a 3-pointer from the right wing by Wyatt Lohaus after Loyola missed the front end of a one-and-one, made it 51-48 with 30 seconds left.

Loyola again missed a free throw but UNI missed a 3-pointer before freshman Lucas Williamson got his only points of the game with two free throws at 10.8 seconds. Tywhon Pickford scored on a putback for Northern Iowa before Townes iced it.
Loyola, on a season-best eight-game winning streak, faces fifth-seeded Bradley in the semifinals on Saturday.

Bennett Koch scored 20 points for Northern Iowa (16-16).

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Carlie Wagner and Kenisha Bell combined for 53 points and Minnesota defeated Iowa 90-89 on Friday despite a school and Big Ten Tournament record 48 points by the Hawkeyes’ Megan Gustafson.

Wagner had 27 points and Bell 26, but the fourth-seeded Golden Gophers (23-7) were not assured a semifinal date with top-seeded and 13th-ranked Ohio State on Saturday until Amanda Ollinger’s 3-pointer missed as time ran out.

Gustafson was 19 of 26 from the field and 10 of 12 from the foul line to surpass the 43 points Ohio State’s Kelsey Mitchell scored in 2016. Gustafson’s last points, a 3-point play, put the fifth-seeded Hawkeyes up 87-85 with 1:23 to play and broke the school record of 46 points set by Chrystal Smith on Nov. 11, 2005.

Destiny Pitts, who had 14 points, quickly answered with a 3-pointer for Minnesota and Gadiva Hubbard, who scored 15, made a steal and then two free throws at 52 seconds for a 90-87 lead.

Kathleen Doyle got a quick layup for Iowa (24-7) at 35 seconds and Ollinger got a steal with 10 seconds left but couldn’t connect after a timeout.

Iowa was 33 of 61 from the field but Minnesota put up 19 more shots because of fewer turnovers (7 to 19) and more offensive rebounds (13 to 6).

The Exira-EHK Spartans started strong against two-time defending champion Springville on Friday but couldn’t sustain the momentum through the rest of the game and fell 57-41 in the Class 1A Semifinal match-up.

The Spartans jumped out to an early 8-2 lead but the Orioles sank 3 three point shots to take their first lead by the end of the first quarter 13-11. The Orioles then pushed that advantage to 29-18 by half and then really put the game out of reach by outscoring the Spartans 19-11 in the third quarter.

Springville’s defense was a big factor as they packed in the lane with a 2-3 zone to keep the ball away from Sophia Peppers and Kealey Nelson. The Orioles forced 20 Spartan turnovers and led the points off turnovers category 26-3.

Star post player Michaela Nachazel finished with 15 points and 4 rebounds to lead Springville back to the 1A State Title game for the fourth straight season. Fellow seniors Madi Wagaman (13) and Rylee Menster (12) also finished in double figures.  The Orioles will try for their third straight State Title on Saturday night at 7:00pm against the Newell-Fonda/Central Decatur winner.

The Spartans were led by 13 points from Sophia Peppers and 8 each from Ellie Schultes and Kamryn Waymire. Peppers and fellow senior Kealey Nelson end an illustrious career for Exira-EHK with a career record of 96-6 and 72-1 in the Rolling Valley Conference.

Exira-EHK Head Coach said after the game that he is just so proud of what they have been able to accomplish.

(From Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union)

No seniors in the starting lineup? No problem. At least it’s not for Grundy Center.

The eighth-ranked Spartans bottled up No. 2 Treynor with sticky defense and Hailey Wallis made some key plays down the stretch in a 42-39 victory that sends Grundy Center to the Class 2A championship game.

With an all-junior starting lineup, Grundy Center will try to win its second title at 5 p.m. Saturday. The Spartans won their first championship in 2005, taking the 2A crown in the last year the tournament was played at Veterans Memorial Auditorium.

Wallis led Grundy Center with 18 points, including the go-ahead basket with 37 seconds left. She also grabbed six rebounds and her lone assist was a big one.

Sarah Lindeman added seven points for the Spartans, Kylie Willis scored six and Brooke Flater pulled down nine rebounds to go with five points.

Grundy Center kept Treynor from getting the ball inside to Madelyn Deitchler and the Cardinals didn’t make enough perimeter shots to force the Spartans to change their defense. Deitchler managed only three points on 1-for-5 shooting and fouled out. She had been averaging 18 a game.

Konnor Sudmann led Treynor with 16 points and Kayla Chapman scored 14.

Treynor trailed by as many as nine points before Chapman scored seven points in an 11-0 third quarter run that got the Cardinals back in it and the game stayed close the rest of the way.

Treynor was leading 33-32 when Wallis got the ball in the lane and passed it out to Lindeman at the top of the key. Lindeman drilled a 3-pointer and Wallis followed with two free throws after being fouled on a drive, putting Grundy up 37-33.

The Cardinals weren’t finished, though and tied it at 39 on Sudmann’s long 3 with 50 seconds left. Wallis quickly broke the tie with a runner in the lane and Flater sank a free throw for the final point after rebounding a Treynor miss. Sudmann’s contested 3 fell short just before the buzzer.

Grundy Center, which has lost only to state tournament qualifier AGWSR, takes a 24-1 record to the finals. Treynor, last year’s state runner-up, finishes 23-2.

The Exira-EHK Spartans girls basketball team is back to the state semifinals for the second straight season and the third time in four years. They will now take on the two-time defending Class 1A champion and a team that has been in the final the past three years, Springville. The Orioles pose a big challenge but the Spartans are excited for the opportunity. After their first round win over AGWSR, Spartan Head Coach Tom Petersen said, “This is where you want to be, you make it to the final four, i mean, three out of the last four years, it says a lot, I’m touched, I love my kids, It’s pretty special what they’ve done.”

Springville is led by two double-figure scorers, seniors Rylee Menster and Mikayla Nachazel. Menster is averaging 17 points per game and Nachazel is dropping 16 points and grabbing 7 rebounds per outing. The senior class is obviously well tested and very accomplished. Madi Wagaman and Alyssa Jaeger are two other seniors that make a big impact in the starting lineup.  The Orioles won their quarterfinal round game in easy fashion 54-36 over Algona Bishop Garrigan. The Orioles are 22-3 on the season.

Exira-EHK will counter with two senior leaders. Sophia Peppers is averaging 19 points and 8 rebounds per game and she had 25 points in the quarterfinal win over AGWSR. Kealey Nelson is averaging 16 points and 5 rebounds per game and she was a big impact player in the second half of their opening win. The Spartans won that first round game 57-47 over the Cougars after pulling away in the fourth quarter. The Spartans come into the semis with a 23-1 record.

We’ll have coverage of the Spartans and the Orioles today on KJAN. Join Chris Parks and Mike Smith for the call with pregame at 12:30pm and tip-off at 1:30pm from Des Moines. Tune in on-air, online, or on the app.

The 7:20-a.m. Sportscast w/Jim Field.

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Class 2A Semifinals

10:00 am – Treynor (23-1) vs. Grundy Center (23-1)
11:45 am – Cascade (23-3) vs. North Union (22-2)

Class 1A Semifinals

1:30 p.m. – Springville (22-3) vs. Exira-EHK (24-1) –ON KJAN Pregame 12:30pm
3:15 p.m. – Newell-Fonda (25-0) vs. Central Decatur (25-0)

Class 5A Championship

6:00 p.m. – Iowa City High (25-0) vs. Iowa City West (18-7)

Class 4A Championship

8:00 p.m. — Marion vs. Grinnell

NEW YORK (AP) — Duncan Robinson made Michigan’s only field goal in overtime, a go-ahead 3-pointer with 2:15 left, and the 15th-ranked Wolverines survived foul trouble and poor shooting to beat Iowa 77-71 and advance to the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals. The fifth-seeded Wolverines face fourth-seed Nebraska on Friday at Madison Square Garden.

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Makenzie Meyer had 13 points, Megan Gustafson 12 and fifth-seeded Iowa used a dominant first quarter to defeat 12th-seeded Northwestern 55-45 in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament. The Hawkeyes (24-6) will meet top-seeded and 13th-ranked Ohio State in Friday’s first quarterfinal.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Creighton coach Greg McDermott took a risk three years ago when he brought in Marcus Foster as a transfer from Kansas State. Foster was known alternately as a prolific scorer and mercurial bad boy in his two seasons with the Wildcats. Foster left trouble behind when he arrived at Creighton. He is averaging 20 points per game this season and on track to be an All-Big East selection for the second year in a row.

JUPITER, Fla. (AP) — St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright had trouble with his control in his Grapefruit League debut, walking three in two innings against Minnesota. His velocity dipped last season, and he rarely broke 90 miles per hour with his fastball in his first spring game.

SURPRISE, Ariz. (AP) — Lucas Duda and the Royals have agreed to a $3.5 million, one-year contract, giving Kansas City a replacement for Eric Hosmer at first base. The 32-year-old hit .217 with 30 homers and 64 RBIs last year for the New York Mets and Tampa Bay, which acquired him on July 27. Drafted by the Mets in 2007, he has a .242 with 138 homers and 405 RBIs in eight major league seasons. To clear a roster spot, the Royals designated outfielder Billy Burns for assignment.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Wyatt Lohaus scored 15 points, Hunter Rhodes added 14, and No. 8 seed Northern Iowa never trailed in beating No. 9 seed Evansville 60-50 in the opening round of the 2018 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament on Thursday night.

Klint Carlson scored nine points with 10 rebounds and Bennett Koch scored eight points with 11 boards as the Panthers (16-15), ranked fourth in the nation in scoring defense (62.9 ppg), held MVC leading scorer Ryan Taylor to two points on 1-of-13 shooting.

Northern Iowa advances to face top seed Loyola-Chicago (25-5) today (Friday).