The Roland-Story Norsemen basketball team made the short trip west on Tuesday night, to take on the South Hardin Tigers at Gilbert High School in their Class 2A, District 5 final. The Tigers entered with a record of 14-9, while Roland-Story entered at 22-1.
It was a lightning fast start for the Tigers, who looked to avenge a 75-60 loss to the Norsemen earlier in the season, as they led 19-8 after the first quarter, but that lead was slightly cut as the entered the halftime break, with the margin at 33-25. Roland-Story would cut the lead to as little as 7 in the 3rd quarter, before another South Hardin push put the Tigers ahead 47-35 going into the 4th quarter.
Darrin Berggren’s squad would dig deep in the 4th quarter, and out of that digging came a 26-8 4th quarter advantage as Roland-Story would come all the way back to stun South Hardin by a score of 61-55. Jonovan Wilkinson would lead Roland-Story with 22 points, but exited the game late in the 4th quarter with an injury. Jake Teske led South Hardin with 21 points on the night.
Roland-Story will take on the Hudson Pirates in the Class 2A, Substate 3 final on Saturday night with an 8 PM tipoff at the Marshalltown Roundhouse. The game will be broadcast on 95.7 KQWC.