Seniors bring Warriors back

KEOSAUQUA - With 30 seconds left in a tie game, the state's leading scorer did what she does best - she scored.

Isabel Manning faded out of bounds at the baseline for the game-winning shot against Louisa-Muscatine in Tuesday night's Class 2A Region 3 girls basketball quarterfinal. The shot gave the Warriors a two-point lead with 30 ticks left, and they would hang on for a 46-45 win.

'I thought I airballed it,” Manning joked to senior teammate and best friend Ella Jirak after the game.

Manning and Jirak scored all 28 of Van Buren County's second-half points to help the Warrios overcome a 25-18 halftime deficit. Van Buren County went on a 9-0 run to start the second half, and later had to erase a six-point fourth quarter deficit.

'At halftime we were a little down, but I think inside we all knew that we were going to pull it out,” Manning said. 'We went out confident, and went out kind of with swag.”

The Warriors had to give it all they had to hold off an upset-hungry Falcon squad, led by Class 2A's third-leading scorer, Kylee Sanders. Sanders scored 20 points for Louisa-Muscatine, but couldn't quite get the potential game-tying free throw to fall with 16 seconds remaining

After making the first, Sanders' second shot rimmed out and Van Buren County earned possession on a jump ball. The Falcons never had the ball again, and Van Buren County celebrated a big postseason win.

When the final buzzer hit, Jirak sprinted toward her lifelong friend.

'Mine and Isabel's friendship means so much to me,” Jirak said. 'The only thing going through my head was, ‘Oh my gosh, I have to go give Isabel a hug.'”

Manning finished the game with 30 points, 20 of which came in the second half. Jirak had eight. Kadence Nusbaum scored six on a pair of 3-pointers in the first half, and Zoe Best finished with two.

'I thought it was a pretty complete game,” said Van Buren County head coach Matt Zeitelr. 'That's a good team we beat.”

The Warriors are now 15-6, and will host Iowa City Regina (11-7) in the regional semifinals on Friday. The winner of that game will take on either top-seeded West Branch (18-1) or Pella Christian (9-13) in the regional finals.