The Roland-Story men’s basketball team made the trip to Fort Dodge on Saturday night, to face off with the Cardinals of Garner-Hayfield-Ventura in the Class 2A, Substate 3 final at Fort Dodge High School. The winner would advance to next week’s state tournament at Wells Fargo Arena.
The two sides would trade blows to open up the game, with the Cardinals going shot-for-shot with the Norsemen, with Roland-Story leading 18-15 after the 1st quarter. GHV would keep things close with the Norsemen, with an even scoring-2nd quarter resulting in a 30-27 halftime lead. The 2nd half is where the Norsemen put forth a championship effort. A 17-11 3rd quarter margin, followed by 22 points in the 4th quarter, with most of them coming at the free throw line, vaulted Roland-Story to a 69-55 victory and their first state tournament appearance 2012. Isaiah Naylor led the way with 27 points, while sophomore Jonovan Wilkinson finished with 20.
Roland-Story will open their state tournament run against the Pella Christian Eagles with tipoff at 7:15 PM on Monday, March 7th, at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.