(From the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union)

Sioux Center is a step closer to a return to the Class 3A championship game.

In a matchup of two teams that press and scramble throughout the game, second-ranked Sioux Center turned back No. 10 Red Oak 76-60 to complete the 3A quarterfinal round and end the Tigers’ 16-game winning streak.

The Warriors held a 13-point lead heading into the fourth quarter, then had to fend off the Tigers the rest of the way. Red Oak got the lead down to 55-48 with a little more than six minutes remaining and what followed was a wild stretch in which Red Oak couldn’t make the shots it needed to get any closer and Sioux Center couldn’t hit the shots it needed to break the game open once and for all.

Sioux Center finally got it done with a couple of big shots. Alyssa Mulder hit a set shot from the right corner to make it 66-54 with 2:29 left and Camryn Cleveringa buried a 3-pointer for a 69-56 lead. Lexi Toering’s layup with 1:24 remaining stretched the lead to 71-57 and the Warriors, last year’s state runners-up, could start thinking about the next round.

Sioux Center will take a 23-2 record against ninth-ranked Monticello at 6:45 p.m. Thursday.

Toering made 10 of 12 shots to lead Sioux Center with 20 points and 10 rebounds. It was a nice comeback for Toering, who was held to four points on 1-for-6 shooting in last year’s title game loss to Pocahontas Area.

Victoria Rensink added 16 points for Sioux Center, while Cleveringa and Jordyn Van Mannen each scored 13.

Red Oak couldn’t quite get it down after upsetting third-ranked Cherokee in the regional finals and finishes 21-3. Sierra Athen led the Tigers with 19 points and grabbed 15 rebounds to break the 3A tournament record of 14 set in 2014 by Unity Christian’s Anna Kiel.

Hannah Vial scored 14 points for Red Oak, Ellie Rengstorf had 13 and Sophie Walker 11 to go with six steals. Red Oak finished with 16 steals and Sioux Center had 13.