The Aplington-Parkersburg girls basketball team saw its season end Friday with a 70-50 loss at Denver in a Class 2A Region 4 semifinal.
Denver established control early behind Bailey Mullihan, who scored 12 points in the first half. The Falcons limited Denver’s leading scorer, Mylee Thurm, to four points before halftime, but the Cyclones built a 15-point lead heading into the break.
Thurm found her rhythm in the second half, scoring 10 points in the paint. Mullihan added two 3-pointers after halftime and finished with 20 points. Kolbie Wangsness led Aplington-Parkersburg with 20 points.
Falcons Head Coach Brady Driscol says Denver forced his team into difficult defensive decisions throughout the night.
“You know, got to kind of pick your poison with them,” says Driscol. “They have great size inside, and so you can play zone and try and take that away, and they kick it out and they make some threes, and you try to play man to take the threes away, and they just hammer it inside. And you know, I think they made nine threes. If they make nine threes and they have the inside presence that they do, you know, they’re ranked fourth. Maybe by the rankings, three teams better than them, but when they play like this, it’s very tough, I think, for anybody on any given night to beat them.”
The Falcons end the season 15-9. Denver advances to the Region 4 final to face Cascade on Feb. 25.
