-Messenger photo by Britt Kudla Sacha Alesch of Bishop Garrigan puts up a three pointer against Kee during 1A quarterfinals on Wednesday inside Casey's Centers inside Des Moines

DES MOINES — Sometimes the score of a game isn’t indicative of what took place.

That’s exactly what Bishop Garrigan (23-2 overall) felt after their 64-42 victory over Lansing Kee (17-8) in their opening round of the Class 1A tournament on Wednesday inside the Casey’s Center.

The Golden Bears got out to a 9-0 lead, and kept the lead the entire game, but the Hawks didn’t just let Bishop Garrigan have it.

“It is definitely really special to get back to the semifinals with this team,” said junior All-Stater Graclyn Eastman. “We watched a lot of film on them and knew we couldn’t underestimate them because obviously they were a good team.

“Not hitting shots isn’t really normal for us but we definitely worked through adversity and I think that is super important for a state title run.”

Bishop Garrigan held a double-digit lead the majority of the contest, but for a team who was beating teams on an average of 38 points, it wasn’t as easy for the Golden Bears to pull away.

Bishop Garrigan, who has now played in seven straight state tournament games, struggled from the field, going 26-for-67 (38 percent) and 7-for-34 (20 percent) from three-point range, for a team who shot 34 percent from the charity stripe during the regular season.

“I thought we didn’t shoot the ball well,” said Bishop Garrigan head coach Brandon Schwab. “We can and do shoot the ball a lot better than that.

“But we picked up for that defensively and were sound on the defensive end.”

The shooting woes were felt by both teams as the Hawks, who shot 31 percent from three-point range heading into state, were 0-for-16 and 17 of 58 from the floor.

The Golden Bears are an explosive team, but on Wednesday, it was their pesky defense that led them to the win.

Bishop Garrigan forced 10 turnovers, while stealing the ball 11 times and recording 11 blocked shots.

Eastman had a big opening day, recording a double-double and an impressive overall statline.

Eastman had 24 points and 14 rebounds. She was 11-for-17 from the field. Eastman had seven steals, four blocks and one assist.

“Graclyn has a natural touch around the rim,” Schwab said. “She does a great job of taking what the defense was giving us.

“We weren’t getting her the ball and I told the girls, we needed to get her a lot more touches. She has a great ability to finish around the rim.”

Sacha Alesch reached double figures with 12 points. Alesch had three assists and three rebounds.

“This win means a lot to us because it showed how much we trust in each other and how much versatility we have,” Alesch said. “We knew that because our shots weren’t going in we needed to run our offense through a different way and use our post player and get the ball to her, and she had an amazing game.

“We stayed consistent, kept shooting and eventually got some shots to fall.”

Emmi Bartolo had 10 points. She pulled down three rebounds, dished out four assists and had three steals.

“Getting the first win feels great, we got all of our first game nerves out and are excited for the opportunity to keep playing,” Bartolo said. “Our shots weren’t falling but we found other ways to score. Graclyn played a huge game for us and we just kept telling our shooters to stay confident and keep shooting.

“We relied on our defense when shots weren’t falling and we really took away Kee’s strength of hitting threes. We forced turnovers and made it tough on them.”

Madelyn Tigges had a strong overall game with seven blocks, six rebounds, five assists and four points.

“Madelyn is a tremendous athlete for us,” Schwab said. “She plays well against the zone and finds the gaps. She plays outstanding and comes out of nowhere to block shots.

“She’s a year older and more comfortable. That is her stat line a lot of nights.”

Addison Winters paced the Hawks with 21 points. She also had eight rebounds. Rylee Mudderman, who averages 17 points a game only had six in the contest.

“We did a great job on Mudderman, who has went for 44 and has 83 threes on the year,” Schwab said. “Our defense is one thing that travels with us. We controlled the game by double digits and that has carried us through nights.”

The top-seeded Golden Bears will now face fifth-seed Dunkerton (23-2), who was a 60-39 winner over Lynnville-Sully.

BISHOP GARRIGAN 64, LANSING KEE 42

Lansing Kee — Rylee Mudderman 2-14 2-3 6, Lillian Kolsrud 2-8 0-0 4, Addison Winters 9-22 3-5 21, Elena Schulte 1-6 0-1 2, Morgan Mohn 1-3 2-2 4, Lilah Strong 1-4 1-2 3, Rose Wheeler 0-0 0-0 0, Evelynn Dibert 0-0 0-0 0, Layla Mathis 0-0 0-0 0, Josy Connelly 0-0 0-0 0, Maddie Mauss 0-0 0-0 0, Maddie Martin 0-0 0-0 0, Grace Tornseth 1-1 0-0 2. Totals: 17-58 8-13 42.

Bishop Garrigan — Emmi Bartolo 4-14 2-10 10, Graclyn Eastman 11-17 2-2 24, Madelyn Tigges 2-5 0-0 4, Carley Nielson 2-6 0-0 6, Sacha Alesch 4-13 2-2 12, Brooklyn Berte 1-1 0-0 3, Alyssa Haugland 1-4 0-0 2, Addyson Faris 0-2 1-2 1, Rikiya Nielson 0-1 0-0 0, Bree Ludwig 0-2 0-0 0, Ava Roethler 0-1 0-0 0, L Erpelding-Wicman 1-1 0-0 2. Totals: 26-67 5-6 64.

Quarter scores: BG led 16-5 29-16, 49-29. Three-point goals: Lansing Kee (0-16) Mudderman 0-8, Kolsrud 0-4, Elena Schulte 0-4. Bishop Garrigan (7-34) Bartolo 2-10, Eastman 0-1 Tigges 0-1, C. Nielsen 2-5, Alesch 2-8, Berte 1-1, Haugland 0-2, Faris 0-2, R. Nielson 0-1, Ludwig 0-2, Roethler 0-1. Total rebounds: Kee 41, Bishop Garrigan 43; Assists: Kee 8, Bishop Garrigan 17. Steals: Kee 7, Bishop Garrigan 11. Blocked shots: Kee 0, Bishop Garrigan 11; Turnovers: Kee 15, Bishop Garrigan 10. Total fouls: Kee 7, Bishop Garrigan 13.