Mount Ayr Record-News
Mount Ayr, Ringgold County, Iowa
Thursday, March 03, 2016, Pages 1 & 11

What a game!

Mount Ayr's appearance in the 2016 Iowa Class 1A Girls State Basketball Tournament may show up as a loss in the record book, but anyone who attended the game can tell you the Raiderettes gave top-ranked and undefeated Turkey Valley more that they bargained for in the first-round game.

Trailing by one point, 52-51, with only 22 seconds to go in the game, the Raiderettes were held scoreless from then on and eventually fell, 55-51, to end their 2015-2016 season.

Thew Raiderettes controlled the opening tip, but Turkey Valley opened the scoring by hitting one of two free throws in the opening minute and a 3-pointer at the 6:25 mark to jump to a 4-0 lead.

Turkey Valley used full court pressure throughout the game to rattle the Raiderettes.

"Their pressure on the back court was pretty good," said Megan Warin, who scored 17 points. "They were number one, and we were a little nervous at first."

Mount Ayr coach Thad Streit immediately called a time-out, and barely a minute later Megan Warin broke the ice with a 3-pointer to pull the Raiderettes within one, 4-3. Ironically, that would be the only 3-pointer the Raiderettes would sink as they went 0-for-4 from beyond the arc for the duration of the contest.

The Trojans scored a field goal at 5:05 to extend their lead to 6-3, but Mount Ayr's Kelcie Shields scored the first two of her game-high 25 points at 4:38.

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"Kelcie is the backbone of our offense and defense," said head coach Thad Streit.

Turkey Valley answered with two of their own at the 4:18 mark to stretch the lead back to three, 8-5.

Following another Mount Ayr time-out, Kelcie Shields scored again and was fouled on the play. She hit the free throw to pull Mount Ayr even 8-8, with 3:33 left in the opening stanza.

Turkey Valley scored at 3:15 to retake the lead, but two consecutive two-pointers from Megan Warin gave the Raiderettes their only lead of the contest, 12-10, at the 2:24 mark.

The Trojans tied the game, 12-12, with two minutes to play in the quarter, but Kelcie Shields scored again at 1:13 to put the Raiderettes on top, 14-12. Unfortunately, this would prove to be Mount Ayr's final lead of the game.

A two-pointer with 54 seconds and a three-pointer at :22 allowed Turkey Valley to carry an 18-14 lead into the second period.

Turkey Valley extended their lead to 20-14 as they opened the second-quarter scoring at the 7:19 mark.

Megan Warin answered by scoring two, but the Trojans answered with a 3-pointer to extend their lead to seven points, 23-16, with just two minues gone in the period.

Coach Streit called at time-out at 6:27, but the Trojans scored two off a Mount Ayr turnover to stretch their lead to nine points, 25-16, at the 6:10 mark.

On the next Mount Ayr possession,Tess Shields scored and was fouled. She hit the free throw to pull her Raiderettes to within eight points, 25-17.

Kelcie Shields cut into the Trojan lead by hitting another two points at 4:37, but Turkey Valley answered 30 seconds later to push their lead back to eight points, 27-19.

Megan Warin and Kelcie Shields scored back-to-back field goals to pull the Raiderettes to within four points, 27-23, with 2:34 left in the half.

Turkey Valley scored on their next possession but missed a free throw to push their lead back to six points.

WIth 92 seconds to go before half-time, Tess Shields was fouled and hit both her free throws as the Raiderettes trailed again by four, 29-25.

However, Turkey Valley ended the second quareter as they did the first quarter by scoring four unanswered points to carry a 33-25 lead into the half-time locker room.

Turkey Valley opened the second half scoring at 5:56 to push their lead to 10 points, 35-25, their largest of the game.

Kelcie Shields hit a pair of free thrown and a field goal near the five-minute mark to cut the Troan lead to 35-29.

A pair of Turkey Valley field goals extended their lead back to 10 points, 39-29, with just under three minutes to play in the period. Kelcie Shields hit another field goal and was fouled on the play, but she was unable to convert her free throw as the Raiderettes again came within eight points, 39-31.

Turkey Valley hit one of two free throws at 2:28, but Sara Winemiller scored a field goal with just under a minute to play to cut the Trojan lead to seven points, 40-33.

Winemiller had another shot blocked as the buzzer sounded to end the quarter, with Turkey Valley maintaining their seven-point advantage.

Kirsten Dolecheck, the team's lone senior, came off the bench to open the Raiderette scoring in the fourth quarter.

"Kirsten is a great kid," said Coach Streit. "She's got a great personality, a great teammate and we are going to miss her personality."

Turkey Valley answered with a field goal at 6:32, but Kelcie Shields came right back to score two to cut the Trojan lead to five points, 42-37.

Coach Streit called a Mount Ayr time-out at 4:56 after which Megan Warin hit for two to pull Mount Ayr within three points, 42-39.

"We knew in the fourth quarter we were going to have to come back or it would be over," said Megan Warin. "We ran through our offense like normal and made sure we looked for Kelcie in the inside."

Kelcie Shields cut the lead to two points, 43-41, at the 3:18 mark, but the Trojans again answered with two of their own to lead by four, 45-41 with three minutes left in the game.

Macy Larsen converted a pair of free throws at 2:28 to trail by two, 45-43, but as they had all game, the Trojans found a way to extend their lead. Near the two-miute mark they scored and hit the free throw to push their lead to 48-43. They added another field goal and led 50-43 with only 90 seconds to play in the game.

Just like their opponents, however, the Raiderettes would not back down.

At 1:13 Megan Warin hit a field goal, after which Coach Streit called at time-out to set up his team's end-game strategy.

After being fouled on the in-bounds play, Turkey Valley hit both ends of the one-and-one to go up 52-45.

Kelcie Shields answered with a field goal with 55 seconds to go.

Feeling the pressure, Turkey Valley called at time-out at :44 after which the stiff Raiderette defense caused a turnover with a five-second call on the in-bounds play.

With 40 seconds to go, Megan Warin hit both ends of a one-and-one to cut the lead to three points, 52-49.

The Trojans were unable to convert a one-and-one with 36 seconds left, and Kelcie Shields hit a big field goal to cut the Turkey Valley lead to one point, 52-51.

Unfortunately, Shields' field goal was the end of the Raiderette scoring.

Turkey Valley converted a crucial one-and-one with 22 seconds to go and hit one-of-two free throws at the 14.6 marke to seal the hard-fougt 55-51 victory.

Shooting for both teams cooled off in the second half. Mount Ayr hit 10-of-27 field goals (37 percent) with no 3-pointers. They converted six-of-10 free throws.

The Trojans hit only seven-of-28 field goals (25 percent), including no three pointers. They were clutch down the stretch at the free throw line, hitting three in the final 22 seconds to seal the win. On the half they hit eight of their 12 free throw attempts (60 percent).

For the game Mount Ayr shot 47.6 percent (20-of-42) from the field but only 20 percent (one-of-five) from beyond the arc. They shot 62.5 percent (10-of-16) from the line.

Turkey Valley shot only 38.9 percent (21-of-54) from the field, but they hit four-of-nine (44.4 percent) from 3-point range, which ended up being the margin of victory. Like Mount Ayr, the Trojans coverted 60 percent (nine-of-15) from the line.

Defensively, Turkey Valley's full-court pressure created 21 Mount Ayr turnovers as compared to only 10 for the Trojans.

"We did a better job the second-half handling their pressure," said Coach Streit. "They are number one and we gave them a run. Our schedule had helped us out a ton and made us better."

The Raiderettes return everyone but senior Kirsten Dolecheck to next year's squad.

Due to the Raiderettes qualifying for the state basketball tournament, the Mount Ayr Community High School spring play, "Headin' for the Hills," has been postponed to Friday, March 10 and Saturday, March 11.

[Page 2] The adrenaline high is beginning to wear off.

The heart rate is back to normal.

But what a thrill cheering on the Raiderettes the last two basketball games in the Des Moines area has been.

I'll admit, I'm a "me-too" fan this year. I followed the Raiderettes' progress each week in the Mount Ayr Record-News, but I hadn't been able to make it to a game until we took the trip to Johnston for the sub-state battle with Grand View Christian.

Wow, what a game.

That one couldn't have been any closer. Facing an unbeaten team, the Raiderettes tied the game at the end of each quarter, only to pull away to win as the clock ticked down in the first overtime.

The electricity in the crowd on the Mount Ayr side of the gymnasium could have lit up a small city.

The the emotion from the court spilled over into the stands as coach Thad Streit sent the girls into the stands to hug their parents. There was a reservoir full of joyful tears and all out hugs, I can tell you. I was sitting near a group of parents and saw that close up.

So it was on to the Well for another state tournament visit Monday.

Valle and I rode up to Des Moines with Debbie Bastow, who had been with the girls to the state tournament 59 years ago, as the Record-News noted in an article last week.

There were memories shared about that trip.

It brought back memories of heading to state with our daughter Cara many years later. Both of these earlier trips took place when the tournament was in Vets Auditorium.

We've been back several times since the long drought that the Raiderettes from Cara's era broke, and memories of watching the girls make the championship game before faltering in the Well a few years ago came flooding back.

I really didn't need another t-shirt, but I didn't want to go to state without the requisite cheering attire. It will join other state memories of Raider or Raiderette moments of glory.

So here we were to see how this year's version of the Raiderettes would stand up against the number one ranked Turkey Valley squad in the first round.

Would the Raiderettes, who were deceptive with the weakest record of the teams in the final eight, be able to play with the strong squard from northeast Iowa?

I'll say.

Cheered on by the crowd, which included basketball moms with their Raiderettes shirts and red and black striped overalls, the girls gave the home folk plenty to cheer about.

Down eight points at the half, the Raiderettes battle back and almost pulled off the huge upset. They almost tied the game up in the final minute before falling 55-51 at the final buzzer.

Again the tension was high as the girls looked up until the very last like they might still prove to be giant killers. The feeling of accomplishment, tinged with disappointment, reminded me somewhat of the state football game at the UniDome last fall.

I looked with a bit of envy at Chanse Hall and Darla Sobotka as they roved the sidelines getting shots of the Raiderettes There's not quite anywhere else as fun for me as trying to cover a Raider or Raiderette team at a state event. But those times are memories too.

Despite a bit of disappointment for the girls, one had to admit that they were in the game against what is supposed to be the top team in the state -- right to the very end.

So many of the girls contributed in one way or another in making the team what it had become. Whether they actually spent time on the floor, or helped with cheering from [Page 4] the sidelines and making their teammates better in practice, we could be proud of all their efforts.

Whih gets one dreaming of next year just as the final whistle of the 2015-16 season faded.

The girls have most of the squad back for a possible second run again next season, a path the Raiderettes have been down before. I can hardly wait to see what these girls may be able to pull off next year.

If they can pick up where they left off this season, there are some more adrenaline highs ahead for Raiderette fans.

Photographs courtesy of Mount Ayr Record-News
Transcription by Sharon R. Becker, August of 2016

Mount Ayr Record-News
Mount Ayr, Ringgold County, Iowa
Thursday, March 10, 2016, Page 1

Shields first team All-State

Junior, Kelcie Shields was named to the 2016 All-State girls basketball first team by the Iowa Newspaper Association.

Shields played at 26 games for the Raiderettes this season, averaging a team high [of] 19.8 points per game and scoring 515 points this season. Shields made 63.8 percent of her shots, sinking 215-of-337. Most of her time was spent under the boards or knocking out 57 percent of her free throws, making 85-of-149 and recording 25 assists as well. Defensively, Shields had 29 steals and a team high [of] 84 blocks. She recorded 9.8 rebounds per game and had a total of 254 rebounds, another team high, 97 of which were offensively and 157 defensive.

In her Raiderette career, which began in her freshman year, Shields has played 63 games and scored an even 900 points. She has averaged 14.2 points per game and has made 387-of-631 shots in the paint, for a 59.9 percent completion percentage. At the free throw line, Shields has sunk 144-of-284 attempts, which translates to 50.7 percent.

Defensively, Kelcie has snatched 499 rebounds, 191 of which were offensive and 308 were defensive, averaging 12.6 rebounds per game. She has troubled teams with her ability to block shots, blocking 140 attempts and stolen the ball 54 times. Shields has been an unselfish player as well, recording 45 assists.

Prior Raiderettes who have been named first-team All-State include Becca Pennington in 2010 (by the Iowa Newspaper Association) and Dawn Huff in 1990 and Nancy Blunck in 1964 (both by the Des Moines Register).

Photographs courtesey of Mount Ayr Record-News
Transcription by Sharon R. Becker, August of 2016