KEOSAUQUA For the second straight postseason, conference rivals Cardinal and Van Buren tangled on a Saturday night in the opening game of Class 2A regional tournament play.

There was one big difference in this year's first round contest, and it's a pretty obvious difference to any one that has watched the 16-win Warriors this season.

Taryn Schuererman stood head and shoulders about everyone on the floor on Saturday as the 6-3 Van Buren freshman poured in 23 points, grabbed nine rebounds and swatted away five Cardinal shots as the Warriors continued their impressive turnaround by returning to the regional quarterfinal round with a 53-27 victory over the Comets. The win is the third straight this season over a Cardinal team that beat the Warriors twice last year in the regular season.

"We had a lot of good looks and good passes. I think we played a pretty good game all around," Schuererman said about Saturday's postseason win. "I think it's been easier for me this season because I've been playing travel ball for the past few years. I've played up on the 15 and 16U levels. I think it has made me stronger as a player."

Schuererman's big night did not start off with a bang from the inside, however. The versatile prep newcomer drained a 3-pointer after winning the game's opening tip, showing a facet to her game that makes the Van Buren freshman even more of a headache for opposing coaches.

"When you've got a girl that big that can step back and shoot the three, it's a heck of a weapon to have," Van Buren head girls basketball coach Matt Zeitler said. "When she can go outside and hit shots, you can't just focus on forcing her away from the basket."

Scheuerman, however, would not score again from the final until the final minutes of the opening quarter. Cardinal answered the opening 3-pointer by the Warriors with a tying shot from Autumn Deshler, one of four Comet seniors who did not want Saturday to be their final night on the court in red and white.

"The girls worked really hard in practice and they didn't want to be anywhere else but on that court together," Cardinal head girls basketball coach Kayla Eakins said. "We forced (Scheuerman) into a few turnovers early on. I think that's because of how much pressure we were putting on her defensively."

Cardinal forced four lead changes in the first quarter with the Comets taking their last lead of the season on a pull-up jumper by another senior, Sarah Schmidt, with three minutes left in the period. The height all around of the Warriors proved to be too much for Cardinal to handle with Van Buren snaring 44 rebounds, including 18 on the offensive end, turning second chances into a six-point run to end the first quarter with a 12-7 lead.

Despite nearly matching Cardinal herself in total points, Scheuereman did not have her best shooting night going just 7-17 from the field and missing her last four attempts from 3-point territory. Eight of Scheuereman's 23 points came from the free throw line, where the post power is working to get more consistent with teams including Cardinal left with no alternative than to foul once the ball gets thrown down low to the Warrior freshman.

"I shoot free throws really well in practice. For some reason, during games, I don't seem to handle the pressure quite as well," Scheuereman said. "That's something I just have to keep working on."

Defensively, Scheuereman added five more blocks to one of the top totals in the state. The Van Buren freshman is one of just four players across Iowa this season with over 100 blocks and is currently third in that total with 128.

"It helps that we have so many girls that have played together for so long," Scheuermann said. "You can tell that each class is working together. Now, it's all starting to come together for us as a team."

Eakins will hope that the Cardinal girls basketball program can experience a turnaround of their own next season after wrapping up the 2016-17 campaign with a 1-21 record. Gone from the team will be Deshler, Schmidt, Cassidy Jameson and Kaylie Blunt who led Cardinal in her final girls basketball game with nine points on Saturday.

"We definitely improved as a team during the course of this season. We started the year averaging 30 turnovers a game. There were times we couldn't even get the ball up the floor," Eakins said. "We've improved handling the basketball and seeing the floor. We've got a lot of good, young players coming back. (Junior) Jamie White has a great shot. Freshmen like Madison Cloke and Lydia Moses could be special players.

"It's all about the work the girls want to put in to improve during the offseason. That, to me, is when next season truly begins."

Van Buren (16-6), meanwhile, will head to 16-4 Pekin on Tuesday night for what could be an instant classic in the Class 2A, Region 8 quarterfinals. Both teams played for divisional titles on the last night of SEISC conference play this season and have been somewhat surprising in their success this season with the Panthers replacing four senior starters while the Warriors start a pair of freshmen.

Tuesday's tilt will also be a fascinating clash of style. Scheuereman leads a powerful interior attack for the Warriors that will have to match up with the guard play of Pekin, led by junior scoring leader Maci Gambell's 20.4 points per game.

"I'm looking forward to the match-up," Scheuereman said of facing Gambell on Tuesday. "I'm ready to block her shot."

Scott Jackson can be reached at sjackson@ottumwacourier.com. Follow him on Twitter at CourierScott.

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Warriors tower over Comets in 2A regional opener - Ottumwacourier