In a competitive matchup between two 20-plus win teams, Bureau Valley’s balance, defense and rebounding made the difference in a 67-48 win over Polo in a Class 1A Galva Regional semifinal matchup.

The fourth-seeded Storm advance to face top-seeded Newman in the regional final at 7 p.m. Friday.

Libby Endress led BV (23-9) with 18 points, going 6 of 6 at the free-throw line and grabbing 11 rebounds. She also converted two basket-and-1s in the fourth quarter as the Storm outscored the Marcos (20-10) 16-5 in the final frame.

Emily Wright added 14 points, Ashlyn Maupin had 13 and Kadyn Haage added 10 in the balanced output.

Endress said containing Polo’s all-time leading scorer, Camrynn Jones, along with fellow senior Carlee Grobe, was key. The Marcos were coming off an 83-35 win over Galva to open the postseason.

Jones scored 23 points, Grobe had 11 and Elsa Monaco added 10, but the senior-led Marcos struggled to rebound and keep up with the Storm.

“Every game, he [coach Jon Henegar] puts on the board, ‘Rebound and run’, ” Endress said. “He always tells us the team that rebounds and runs the best usually wins. That’s what we try to focus on.

“We aren’t super big, but we know that we can get rebounds and run. We like to go in transition and that’s how we get a lot of our points.”

While Polo doesn’t have much size either, Jones thought the Storm just wanted it more.

“They were ‘go get it’ the whole time. We kind of came in and out each quarter,” she said. “You’ve got to have the heart all four quarters, and that’s something we’ve kind of struggled with all year. We just didn’t get it done.

“They wanted that game more than we did I think is what it just comes down to. Very good team.”

BV coach Jon Henegar said he knew his team had to get stops in what would be an offensive game. The defense got it done after BV led just 17-14 after the first quarter and 34-30 at halftime.

“We did that better in the second half and got a couple and-1 opportunities and we made our free throws today,” he said. “When you do that and you get a few stops here and there, that’s kind of what happens.”

The Storm were 14 of 18 at the line in the win. Only Jones got to the line for Polo as she was 6 of 6.

Endress said having different girls who are able to score is great to have. Seven different BV players had buckets.

“We know we have each other’s backs,” she said. “We all want to score, but we all want everyone else to score. It’s just a very unselfish mentality that I feel like our whole team has.”

Polo coach Jason Grobe said the team tried to get more drives to the basket, but the shots just weren’t falling. He said it was also tough to box out while playing in a zone defense.

“They gave us the best chance I thought today was staying in that zone,” he said. “It’s just one of those things we have to get better at in the future.”

Grobe said getting 20 wins was big for the team. He’s watched the starting group of five seniors grow up alongside his daughter.

Polo won a regional title their freshman year. As seniors, the Marcos had 20 wins for the first time since 2008 under Cliff Bardell.

“They’re going to be destined for great things in the future,” Grobe said. “It was a pleasure to be able to coach them for the last four years.”