Rian Yates’ three-pointer with 3:09 to play gave Oskaloosa a 51-49 victory over Marion in the Class 3A Boys’ State High School Basketball Tournament in Des Moines Tuesday (3/5).  That three-pointer turned out to be the final basket of the game….as Oskaloosa’s defense fought to keep Marion off the board, forcing two turnovers and then Cole Henry blocked a three-point attempt with four seconds to play to end the contest.  Oskaloosa trailed by ten points at halftime, but rallied as Cole Henry scored 12 of his 14 points in the second half.  Henry talked about the win.

“They did a great job, they’re a well-coached team.  They had a great game plan, they doubled down on us–me and Xavier (Foster)–in the post and that allowed for us to kick out to the (outside) shooters.  In the first half, we weren’t making very many.  But in the second half, it shows that when we  make them, we’re deadly.  When we started making them, that opened up some lanes for me to get some buckets and it worked to our advantage.”

Rian Yates led Oskaloosa with 15 points.  The Indians improve to 17-5 on the season.  They’ll play Winterset Thursday afternoon (3/7) in the 3A semifinals.  Tip-off from the Wells Fargo Arena is scheduled for 3:45; KBOE-FM’s live coverage will start at 3:15.