Kee girls basketball team has season ended at every team’s ultimate destination by 61-45 loss to eventual State Runner-Up Newell-Fonda
Best-ever season ended by eventual State Runner-Up ... Members of the Kee girls basketball team display their State Tournament Quarterfinalist trophy after their 61-45 loss in the first-round of the Class 1A State Tournament to fourth-rated Newell-Fonda Wednesday, February 28. The loss ended the Hawks’ 2017-2018 season at a best-ever 22-2 overall record that included a first-ever five-player Upper Iowa Conference (UIC) championship with an undefeated 12-0 UIC mark. Newell-Fonda went on to finish as the Class 1A State Tournament Runner-Up, falling to now three-time Class 1A State Champion Springville. Kee’s only other loss on the season came to undefeated Class 3A State Champion Crestwood, who capped off a perfect season by winning its first-ever girls basketball state championship. Left to right - Front row: Elena Rolfs, Laura Colsch, Katie Brennan, Nicki Wood, Annabelle Dibert, Kristina Dibert, Ashlyn Seitz. Back row: Meredith Gruber, Makayla Peters, Makayla Walleser, Ashley Schwartzhoff, Chloe Severson, Kendra Cooper, Heather Mooney. View and find out how to purchase this photo and many more by clicking on the Photo Galleries link on this website.
The Kee girls basketball team prided itself on a defensive effort very difficult to solve this season, limiting opponents to a season average of just under 31 points per game that helped the Hawks to just a single-loss regular season and their second-ever State Tournament qualification. The only two teams to successfully solve that Kee defensive puzzle this season also seemed to solve nearly everyone else’s as they both played to the State Championship game of their respective State Tournament bracket with undefeated season records, one of those solvings ultimately bringing the Hawks’ best-ever season on record to a final close where all other teams strive to be.
The first of those puzzle solvers, Class 3A’s top-rated Crestwood Cadets, handed the Hawks their only regular season loss, 56-34, on the way to finishing off a perfect season with the Class 3A State Tournament championship this past weekend. The only other team to figure out Kee’s defensive mystery happened to do so in the opening round of the Class 1A State Tournament, as fourth-rated and undefeated Newell-Fonda ended the Hawks’ best-ever season with a 61-45 loss in that season grand finale first round Wednesday, February 28 at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines before playing its way to its sixth Class 1A State Tournament Runner-Up finish, the Mustangs’ perfect season being thwarted by now three-time defending Class 1A State Tournament Champion Springville.
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