(Radio Iowa)  — An exhibit showcasing the history of 6-on-6 girls basketball in Iowa is in the midst of a six-city tour across the state. It was 25 years ago this year that Iowa’s final 6-on-6 state tournament was held. University of Iowa professor Susan Birrell is co-curator of the exhibit, which was first put on display in Mount Vernon in March. “At Mount Vernon, we were met at the door before the exhibit even opened on the first day by women who were eager to see the exhibit and share their own stories,” Birrell said.

The exhibit was moved to Ottumwa in May and is now on display in Guthrie Center through August 5. Julie Goodrich-Blake donated photos and other items to the exhibit. She played for Adel in the 1970s when her team made it to the finals of the state tournament two years in a row, losing both of those games. During her junior and senior years, Goodrich-Blake received fan mail from around the state and was a superstar in

Julie Goodrich, Adel, launches shot at state tournament

her small town in Dallas County. “We were treated like royalty, really,” Goodrich-Blake recalled. “We had so much success and the people of the community enjoyed watching us.”

Current University of Iowa women’s basketball coach Lisa Bluder played 6-on-6 hoops for Linn-Mar in the late 1970s. Her teams never made it to the state tournament, but Bluder has fond memories of the pageantry put on display at Vet’s Auditorium in Des Moines. “Every year, we’d go and watch the state tournament and see all the glamour – and it was packed,” Bluder said. “The guys would come out in their tuxedos and clean the floor at halftime. The spotlights would come on and they’d announce the all-tournament teams and the people being inducted into the hall-of-fame. The whole thing was marvelous.”

Although the 6-on-6 game wasn’t unique to Iowa, support of the sport was extraordinary – both in terms of fans and organization. Iowa has the longest running state tournament dedicated to high school girls, with the first unsanctioned tournament held in 1920. Goodrich-Blake, who went on to play at Iowa State University, said she feels lucky that she grew up where she did. “My mother and grandmother played basketball, my aunts played, so I didn’t realize other girls my age weren’t getting to play across the country. It wasn’t novel to go out for basketball at Adel because everybody else had played before,” Goodrich-Blake said.

Iowa was one of the last two states to play 6-on-6 basketball (Oklahoma held its last 6-on-6 tournament in 1995). Each team in the 6-on-6 game had three guards on one side of the court and three forwards on the other. Shelly Lucas was a guard for the New London Tigerettes in the early 1980s. “I didn’t know it was unusual that I never got to score any points. I took a lot of pride in my defensive skills,” Lucas said. “My school was never a noteworthy school, we didn’t make it to state or anything like that. We were playing because it was fun to play and that’s what you did when you grew up in Iowa.”

Lucas, now a professor at Boise State University, earned a PhD at the University of Iowa in 2001. Her dissertation examined the controversy over switching Iowa high school girls’ basketball from a six-player to a five-player game. The traveling exhibit, currently in Guthrie Center, will make three more tour stops between August and the end of the year in Jefferson, Ames, and Conrad.
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LINK:
http://www.lib.uiowa.edu/iwa/celebrating-girls-and-womens-sport-in-iowa/

Here is the latest Mid-America sports news from The Associated Press

PHOENIX (AP) — Yadier Molina and Yairo Munoz homered, Miles Mikolas threw six strong innings and the St. Louis Cardinals broke loose late to beat Arizona 8-4 and take two of three from the first-place Diamondbacks. Molina’s three-run shot on the first pitch from reliever Fernando Salas highlighted a five-run Cardinals seventh inning after Arizona had nursed a 2-1 lead through six. The Diamondbacks dropped to 1-5 on their homestand and lead the surging Dodgers by just a half-game in the NL West.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Trevor Bauer pitched effectively into the eighth inning and the Cleveland Indians beat the skidding Kansas City Royals 3-2 for a three-game sweep. Michael Brantley had an early RBI double and the Indians scored all their runs in the first three innings on only one hit.

DENVER (AP) — The Denver Nuggets have agreed to a deal with rookie forward Michael Porter Jr. Porter was taken by the Nuggets with the 14th overall pick in the draft last month. He was considered a top-five pick before a back injury that required surgery limited him to three games at Missouri last season.

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — San Francisco 49ers linebacker Reuben Foster has been suspended without pay for the first two games of the regular season for violating the NFL’s conduct and substance-abuse policy. The NFL said Foster will also be fined for violations from a weapons offense and misdemeanor drug charge that were resolved earlier this offseason. Foster will miss San Francisco’s games against Minnesota and Detroit before being allowed to return on Sept. 17 before the Niners play Kansas City.

The 7:20-a.m. Sportscast with Ric Hanson

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The college football preview magazines are hitting the newsstands and most expect Wisconsin’s domination of the Big Ten West Division to continue. Phil Steele says with Alex Hornibrook back at quarterback, Johnathan Taylor at running back and the nation’s top ranked offensive line the Badgers are loaded on offense. He expects the defense to be strong again despite some losses. Steele says Iowa could make a run at the division title if they can knock off the Badgers in Kinnick Stadium. He expects Nebraska to show improvement under first year coach Scott Frost even though the Huskers face a demanding schedule.

(Learfield Sports)

Here is the latest Mid-America sports news from The Associated Press

PHOENIX (AP) — Paul Goldschmidt hit a three-run homer, Zack Greinke pitched effectively into the seventh inning and the Arizona Diamondbacks ended a four-game losing streak with a 4-2 win over the St. Louis Cardinals. Goldschmidt followed a four-hit night on Monday with a three-run homer off Jack Flaherty in the fifth inning.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Yan Gomes hit a grand slam in the sixth inning and the Cleveland Indians rallied to beat the Kansas City Royals 6-4. The Indians lead the American League with eight grand slams and it was their second in two nights.

DENVER (AP) — The Denver Nuggets have agreed to a deal with rookie forward Michael Porter Jr. Porter was taken by the Nuggets with the 14th overall pick in the draft last month. He was considered a top-five pick before a back injury that required surgery limited him to three games at Missouri last season.

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — San Francisco 49ers linebacker Reuben Foster has been suspended without pay for the first two games of the regular season for violating the NFL’s conduct and substance-abuse policy. The NFL said Foster will also be fined for violations from a weapons offense and misdemeanor drug charge that were resolved earlier this offseason. Foster will miss San Francisco’s games against Minnesota and Detroit before being allowed to return on Sept. 17 before the Niners play Kansas City.

Atlantic 11, Treynor 1 (5 innings)
Ankeny Christian Academy 13, Murray 3
Ar-We-Va, Westside 13, EHK-Exira 3 (5 innings)
CAM 20, East Union 3 (4 innings)
Central Decatur 12, Wayne 0 (5 innings)
Coon Rapids-Bayard 5, Nodaway Valley 2
Coon Rapids-Bayard 8, Glidden-Ralston 0
CB Abraham Lincoln 17, Sioux City, West 7 (5 innings)
Earlham 12, Audubon 5
Harlan 13, Dallas Center-Grimes 1
Kuemper Catholic 10, Carroll 0
Lewis Central 13, Denison-Schleswig 3 (6 innings)
MVAOCOU 11, Lawton-Bronson 1 (WVC Tourney Consolation)
Martensdale-St. Marys 8, Des Moines Christian 4
Mount Ayr 12, Southwest Valley 9
Mount Ayr 5, Southwest Valley 2
Red Oak 4, Stanton 2
Sioux City, West 22, CB Abraham Lincoln 1 (4 innings)
Tri-Center 10, Sidney 0
Underwood 12, Fremont-Mills 0 (5 innings)
West Harrison 8, Woodbine 0
West Monona 18, Westwood 8 (5 innings)

Class 1A

Region 6

Moravia 8, Murray 6
Martensdale St. Marys 7, Southeast Warren 3
Lenox 5, Twin Cedars 4
Wayne 12, Central Decatur 0 (3 innings)

Region 7

Grand View Christian 3, Exira-EHK 2
Glidden-Ralston 5, Griswold 2
Collins-Maxwell 12, Stanton 0
Coon Rapids-Bayard 9, Baxter 4

Region 8

Akron-Westfield 10, Lawton-Bronson 0
Westwood 8, West Harrison 6
West Monona 11, Fremont-Mills 0 (5 innings)
Riverside 6, Sidney 5 (9 innings)

Class 2A

Region 2

Treynor 10, Clarinda 0 (5 innings)
Mount Ayr 10, Nodaway Valley 0 (6 innings)
Logan-Magnolia 13,  Tri-Center 0
Underwood 6, AHSTW 3

Region 3

IKM-Manning 10, Manson-NW Webster 0
Panorama 12, AC/GC 11
Ogden 3, Woodward-Granger 1
Earlham 13, South Hamilton 10

Class 3A

Region 3

North Polk 4, Gilbert 0
Kuemper Catholic 4, OA-BCIG 3
Roland-Story 8, Greene County 0
Saydel 7, Southeast Valley 4

Region 4

Atlantic 4, Shenandoah 1
Creston 11, Red Oak 9
Clarke 11, PCM 1
Chariton 4, Centerville 2

The Atlantic softball team picked up a Class 3A Regional Quarterfinal win over Shenandoah on Tuesday night by a final of 4-1. The Trojans played solid defense and mustered up just enough offense to move on to the Regional Semifinals on Friday night.

Atlantic opened the scoring in the bottom of the 1st with an RBI single from Ally Anderson that followed up a triple from Alexis Handel. The Trojans later pushed across 3 runs in the 3rd. Baylee Newell got the inning rolling with a lead-off double. Alexis Handel was intentionally walked to put two runners on and Ally Anderson singled to load the bases. Reagan Pellett then reached on a fielders choice to bring home a run. On that play the Fillies tried to get a force out at third but Cayley Lorimor’s foot never reached the bag and Alexis Handel was ruled safe. Olivia Engler then brought in Handel with a sac fly to center. Karsyn Rush then got a base hit to drive in the third and final run of the inning.

Atlantic Head Coach Terry Hinzmann thought it was a good team win.

Ally Anderson got the win in the circle for Atlantic allowing one run on 9 hits with 6 strikeouts and no walks. Ally talked about the teams approach to taking things as they come and also talked about her night in the circle.

The Fillies stranded 8 base-runners throughout the night. Makayla Adkins took the loss for Shenandoah allowing 4 runs on 7 hits with 1 strikeout and 1 walk. Shenandoah ends their season at 14-21.

The Trojans improved to 28-5 and will next face Creston on Friday night in the Regional Semifinal in Atlantic. The Panthers picked up an 11-9 win over Red Oak in the Quarterfinals on Tuesday. We’ll have coverage of the game on Friday with pregame and 6:40pm and first pitch at 7:00pm.

Regional Quarterfinal Softball is on tap tonight for Classes 1A, 2A, and 3A. We’ll have Atlantic’s postseason opener against Shenandoah on KJAN with pregame to start at 6:45pm and first pitch set for 7:00pm. Here is a look at area games.

Class 1A

Region 6

Murray vs. Moravia (@ Osceola) 5:30pm
Southeast Warren @ Martensdale St. Marys 7:00pm
Twin Cedars @ Lenox 7:00pm
Central Decatur @ Wayne 7:00pm

Region 7

Exira-EHK @ Grand View Christian 5:30pm
Griswold @ Glidden-Ralston 5:30pm
Stanton @ Collins-Maxwell 7:00pm
Coon Rapids-Bayard @ Baxter 7:00pm

Region 8

Lawton-Bronson @ Akron-Westfield 7:00pm
West Harrison @ Westwood 7:00pm
Fremont-Mills @ West Monona 7:00pm
Riverside @ Sidney 7:00pm

Class 2A

Region 2

Clarinda @ Treynor 7:00pm
Nodaway Valley @ Mount Ayr 7:00pm
Tri-Center @ Logan-Magnolia 7:00pm
AHSTW @ Underwood 7:00pm

Region 3

Manson-NW Webster @ IKM-Manning 7:00pm
AC/GC @ Panorama 7:00pm
Woodward-Granger @ Ogden 7:00pm
South Hamilton @ Earlham 7:00pm

Class 3A

Region 3

Gilbert @ North Polk 7:00pm
Kuemper Catholic @ OA-BCIG 7:00pm
Greene County @ Roland-Story 7:00pm
Saydel @ Southeast Valley 7:00pm

Region 4

Shenandoah @ Atlantic 7:00pm ON KJAN Pregame at 6:45pm
Creston @ Red Oak 7:00pm
PCM @ Clarke 7:00pm
Chariton @ Centerville 7:00pm

The Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union released the final rankings for Classes 1A, 2A, and 3A on Monday with postseason play getting underway.

In Class 2A IKM-Manning is ranked #2. Fellow WIC members Treynor and Logan-Magnolia come in at 7th and 8th respectively in the final poll.

In Class 3A Atlantic finishes the regular season ranked #7.

Take a look at the full poll here: Final-softball-rankings-1A-2A-3A