Iowa high school girls basketball state tournament: Johnston, Dowling move to final

DES MOINES, IOWA – Top-ranked, and No. 1 seed, Johnston blew out 4 seed Waukee 74-33 in a Class 5A semifinal game Thursday at Wells Fargo Arena. 

The Dragons, who are ranked No. 1 in SB Live’s all-class top 25 in Iowa and 19^th in the nation, got big-game performances from future Division I players Jenica Lewis and Aili Tanke.

Lewis, just a sophomore, hit for 22 points, while Iowa State recruit Tanke had a double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds. The tandem combined to bury seven 3-pointers – four by Lewis.

“I mean it’s a great feeling, knowing that our team came out and played the way we wanted to,” said Lewis, who is one of the more sought-after recruits in the country for the Class of 2026. We played all our players and were able to get a rest for tomorrow.”

Lewis had a terrific all-around game, going 6-for-8 from the field with three 3-pointers. She also snared five rebounds, handed out four assists, blocked two shots and made a steal.

“She’s been really good,” said Johnston coach Chad Jilek. “Last year she came in as a freshman and was a little tentative on the bigger stage and played good but not great. This year she’s played great. She’s finishing at the basket, she’s knocked down shots, she’s got her hand on the ball on defense. She’s just been great here this year.”

But it was Tanke who played a big hand in turning the game into a rout by knocking down a pair of 3-pointers and hitting a jumper in the first 1:06 of the third quarter. It sparked an 18-1 flurry and the Dragons were breathing fire up 57-25 as Tanke buried her three trifectas in the third quarter.

“I think that little halftime break really got my legs back under me so I then just knew this was the time to shoot threes so I just went out and tried to do that,” Tanke said.

“We were hoping she was going to get some more open shots – she didn’t get that many in the first half,” said Johnston coach Chad Jilek. “If she gets any little room when she makes that first one, she’s a 50 percent 3-point shooter, she’s gonna make most of them. So her hitting that first one in the third quarter was big for her.”

“It’s Aili Tanke. I mean she knocks down threes and is a great player. That’s all I can say,” Lewis said.

Johnston beat Waukee twice earlier this season but in more competitive games, winning by 18 and 13 points. However the Warriors never challenged in the second half after Tanke went wild to start the third quarter.

“Tanke came out and hit multiple (shots) right in our faces,” said Waukee coach Dani Franklin-Printy. “They have very good and talented players. Johnston’s a very good team and obviously talented across the board.”

The Warriors, who finish the season with a 19-5 record, shot just 26.7 percent for the game and were a dismal 11.8 percent on 2 of 17 shooting in the second half, missing all seven shots in the fourth quarter.

“They started forcing a lot of stuff,” Jilek said. “We played really good defense in that second half, and I think we held them to their lowest point total of the season. We talked about (defense) today, they’re not gonna beat us, and we did good on that end.”

Jilek was correct. Waukee’s previous lows this season were 49 and 50 points – both against West Des Moines Dowling. The leading scorers for the Warriors – Kirsten Hauck, Emilie Sorensen and reserve Lydia Smith – had just six points, and Sophie Hope was held to just five points and six rebounds. Sorensen averages 14.5 and Hope 10.4.

“We didn’t do every little thing that we practiced, but also didn’t hit a lot of shots today and that’s gonna happen,” said Franklin-Printy, who’s in her third season at Waukee. “You’re not gonna play your best game every single game, but kudos to Johnston.”

Johnston, making its 10 straight state tournament appearance, came out on fire, racing to an 11-2 lead on a steal and layup by Tanke at the 5:11 mark, but the Warriors clawed back getting back-to-back buckets, including a trifecta, by Hauck to close within 13-12. The Dragons led 17-12 after one quarter.

The Warriors’ success was short-lived, however, as Johnston answered with an 11-2 run to end the half with a 39-24 cushion, and then Tanke came out of the locker room on fire, and Johnston was off to the races.

The Dragons, who got nine points from both Jaliya Kinnetz and reserve Are Phillips, led 51-31 after three quarters and outscored the Warriors 13-2 in the fourth quarter as the reserves got plenty of playing time, giving the starters much needed rest with the quick turnaround to the championship game Friday night.

The win sets up a championship rematch with CIML Conference foe West Des Moines Dowling, which beat Cedar Falls on the other side of the bracket. The Dragons won both meetings this season by double digits – 66-53 at home and 43-31 at Dowling.

“This year we’re focused on playing for each other, understanding that anyone can beat anybody on any given day, so these girls take that to heart,” Jilek said.

Big second half propels Dowling

Three seed West Des Moines Dowling Catholic knocked off second-seeded Cedar Falls 59-48 in the second Class 5A semifinal game.

The Maroons used a tight defense and the size of 6-foot-2 sophomore Ellie Muller to frustrate the Tigers in the second half. They turned the game into a blowout, holding Cedar Falls without a basket for 8 minutes, 54 seconds. The Tigers only got a pair of free throws from Karis Finley with 3:42 left in the game during the drought.

The Maroons were able to turn a 39-36 lead into a 57-38 cushion when Zediker hit a jumper from the wing with 2:58 left in the game, capping an 18-2 run. That broke open a tight 39-36 game, and Dowling was able to coast home.

Ellie Muller, a 6-foot-2 sophomore, was a big factor in more ways than one for the Maroons with a double-double. She scored 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting, pulled down 13 rebounds and was close to a triple-double by blocking seven shots.

“Ellie Muller came and stepped up to help,” said Dowling coach Kristin Meyer. “She’s big for us in the lane – not only big as in tall – but she came up big in key moments to get some blocks and rebounds. We did a better job in the lane (defensively) in the second half.”

Ava Zediker was Dowling’s leading scorer with a game-high 22 points, which included three triples in the third quarter.

“She’s got the competitive fire we’re looking for,” Meyer said. “She had a couple really strong drives off the dribble in the first half, which I thought was big for us to get to the rim, and then hit some threes, especially in the second half.

The Maroons led the entire game but never more than five in the first half. They led just 24-23 at halftime.

Dowling freshman Katelyn Muller caught fire to start the second half as well, bombing in back-to-back 3-pointers in the first 31 seconds. Cedar Falls managed to keep it close when Karis Finley hit a jumper to close the gap to 39-36 with 3:39 left.

The Maroons scored the next 11 points of the quarter to go up 50-36 at the quarter break and Ellie Muller made a layup to keep the rally going in the fourth. Dowling capped the 18-2 run when Zediker hit a jumper to make it 57-38 before the Tigers ended their nearly nine-minute dry spell with a 3-pointer from Gabie Hanks with 2:45 left in the game.

“Our shots didn’t fall,” said Cedar Falls guard Grace Knutson, who finished with a game-high 20 points. “They were hitting threes, we didn’t really talk much on defense and didn’t rotate right.”

“We didn’t shoot very well in the first half, but we knew numbers don’t lie as far as our percentages – keep shooting and they’re going to start falling,” said Meyer, who’s in her eighth season at Dowling. “Katie made that first one in the third quarter, and it opened up the flood gates. She got another on, Ellie got one, Eva got a couple and Macy Harnden came in and got one."

The Maroons made Knutson work hard for her points, limiting her to 9 of 26 from the field. Gabie Hanks added 12 points and Finley finished with eight for the Tigers, who finished the season 23-2.

“Grace Knutson is a fantastic player,” Meyer said. “We were hoping to hold her under 15, but we made her work. We knew we would be OK if we could hold the other ones in check. I thought Eva did a fantastic job on Grace, but great players are going to score. Eva just did a really nice job commanding the game and she did a nice job on Knutson, who’s a very tough player to defend.”

“We brought energy,” Knutson said. “We heard a lot that everyone thought it was going to be an easy win for Dowling. We came in, we competed, we brought energy. We didn’t give up until the very end.”

Now Dowling (21-4), which starts three juniors, a sophomore and a freshman, has the difficult task of playing the nationally ranked and unbeaten Dragons.

“Johnston is a little different beast to guard than most teams because they have so many scorers,” Meyer said. “We’ll look at a few things, tweak a thing here or there and come up with a game plan. We know them well. We’ve played them twice. We didn’t think either of those games were our best game. We have as good of a chance as anyone, and we only need to beat them one time.”

--Chris Short I @SBLiveIA