DARLINGTON — Sixth-seeded Darlington (17-8) came to play on Tuesday, Feb. 21, toppling 11th-seeded Parkview (8-16) 62-23 in the opening round of the WIAA Division 4 regional playoffs.
While the second half was overwhelming for the Vikings, the first 18 minutes were a much different story.
Both squads remained scoreless until the 15:31 mark, when Camilla Hauser netted Parkview two points with a jumper from the free-throw line right after pulling in a defensive rebound and racing down the court for a shot.
Darlington’s answer came in the form of a pair of free throws by Jaylyn Schwartz over a minute-and-a-half later, followed by a two-pointer from Cayla Golackson, assisted by Schwartz.
Schwartz then found herself in the right place at the right time as she intercepted an errant Viking pass by Abby Anderson and fired a pass to Jaidyn Evenstad, who raced down the court for an easy layup.
Parkview’s Ashley Bloedow drained the squad’s second shot of the night, driving through the open lane to the hoop, keeping the Vikings within two points. Moments later, Schwartz ensured the Redbirds stayed at a four-point advantage with a two from just inside the top of the key.
Shortly after, Kylie Butler tallied her first of three 3-pointers off a fast break where she was lightly guarded by Jazmyn Wiedmer, forcing Parkview head coach Chad Smith to call a timeout at 10:34 with his team facing an 11-4 deficit.
Hauser then netted a quick two inside the paint before perimeter passing opened up Aubrey McCarthy for a two under the hoop.
The next six minutes featured Darlington going on a 9-4 run, with Butler (five points), Maddie Gratz (two points), and Golackson (two points), while the Vikings only mustered points from the free-throw line — three by Chloe Mielke and one from Katie Klassy.
As the clock ticked past the 1:10 mark, Hauser scored her team’s first field goal in nearly nine minutes before assisting on a two pointer by Klassy 40 seconds later.
The Redbirds’ attempt at a buzzer beater proved futile, as Evenstad kicked a pass out to a heavily pressured Maddie Gratz who threw up a 3-pointer that missed its mark, sending Darlington into the break with a 22-14 lead.
“Give Parkview credit, they play really tough-nosed defense and make some really nice rotations on that end,” said Redbird head coach Brad Solberg. “We struggled to finish early in the game.”
Coming into the second half, the feeling was that Darlington would have to fight tooth and nail for the win. As both squads took the court, nothing was further from the truth.
The Redbirds opened the second half on a 29-0 run over 10 minutes that saw six different players score one or more times. They were largely successful due to a combination of Sadie Goebel and a suffocating defense that forced 34 turnovers — 20 alone were steals.
Up to the second half, Goebel only saw the court from her seat on the bench, but at 15:57, she subbed in, and her impact was felt immediately.
Goebel started hot, going 2-for-2 from beyond the arc with both scores coming within two minutes of each other, before making two more 3-pointers — her third at 9:30 and fourth at 4:06 — with each completion coming when she was completely open.
Goebel also found herself perfect from the free throw line, going 4-for-4.
While the Redbirds never quite got to a running clock, they came very close, leading by as much as 39 points for several stretches of the second half.
“I thought we had better energy in the second half, which led to some offensive success,” said Solberg. “Sadie Goebel came in off the bench and really sparked us. I was really proud of her efforts.”
