The Class 5A girls basketball playoffs got underway across the state Wednesday evening, as Indianola played host to Des Moines East. It was quite literally all Indians all the way, as they took a commanding lead early on and never looked back in a 74-28 victory, aired live on 94.3 KNIA.

Indianola scored the game’s first 18 points in taking a 29-3 lead after one. 10 three-pointers in the first half combined with poor shooting by the Scarlets helped Indianola extend the lead to 59-13 at the half. In fact, all but two of East’s first half points came at the free throw line. Indianola had done all the damage they needed to by the time the second half started. The 35-point rule was in effect the entire second half, the Indians emptied the bench, and coasted to the win. Head Coach Jeff Janssen says that he wanted his team to start fast, and they did exactly that.

“I challenged the girls last night that we needed a fast start. I showed them some film of a couple teams that have done that against East. We haven’t done that much this year, to jump on a team and get after them, and luckily we were able to do that tonight from the get-go, and that really set the tone for tonight.”

Three players scored in double figures for the Indians, led by Lauren Blake with 16 points. Kendall Clatt added 14 while Alley May came off the bench and tacked on 13. Indianola improves to 16-6 overall, and advances to Saturday’s regional semifinal game at Ankeny Centennial. That game will air live on 94.3 KNIA, with pregame coverage beginning at 4:45 p.m.