Warriors expect to be where they are

Van Buren junior Chloe Davidson summed up the Warriors 66-50 Class 2A region 6 semifinal victory over Pella Christian Friday night simply, 'Taryn and Isabel's shots were going in and that really helped us a lot.”

Taryn Scheuermann and Isabel Manning did combine for 41 points, 21 rebounds, four assists, three steals and six blocks, but key contributions from Davidson (nine points and seven rebounds), her twin Grace (five points, four rebounds and four assists) and Madison Bartholomew (nine points, nine rebounds, seven assists, one steal and one block) also helped fuel the Warrior offense that exploded for 26 points during the first eight minutes of play before holding a 43-24 halftime advantage.

Don't call it a comeback

Pella Christian started the second half on a 5-0 run that got the Eagle supporters on their feet, but the Van Buren faithful returned with louder chants of de-fense that elicited a stop followed by a bucket that stretched the 'home” team's lead back to 16 with five minutes remaining in the period. The Eagles did outscore the Warriors 11-8 for the quarter, but Van Buren ran even with PC in the fourth with both offenses netting 15 points.

'I always had confidence in our team and what we could do and I just had a feeling,” said sophomore Isabel Manning. 'A good feeling.”

We worked together really well in the first half and we usually don't score 40 in the first half,” explained junior Taryn Scheuermann.

On facing No. 2/undefeated Central Decatur tonight

'I'm just ready for it. Since I was a freshmen I've been looking at Central Decatur knowing that I'm going to have to go through them or someone really like them and I believe at this point, rankings don't matter and it's just whomever has the biggest heart and can play their hardest and get shots to fall.” - Scheuermann

'Since they are a more guard-oriented team, I'm going to say that we're going to have to slow it down some because our pace is normally a little bit slower.

If we trap that will speed up the game but if we play a lazy 2-3 zone that may slow it down a little bit for us.” - Scheuermann

'They're a great team and if we beat them, we might win the state tournament. We're a bad matchup for a lot of teams and they don't see anything like us.” -Coach Zeitler

Next

Tonight versus No. 2 Central Decatur at Chariton High School with the winner advancing to the state tournament in Des Moines.