Bishop Heelan 77, Dubuque Wahlert 60

Sioux City Bishop Heelan is a step closer to another appearance in the Class 3A state championship game.

MaKayla Augustine led another big offensive outing with 22 points and third-ranked Bishop Heelan pulled away in the second half to beat No. 6 Dubuque Wahlert 77-60 in the opening game of the 3A tournament.

Madison Yohe added 21 points, seven rebounds and five assists for the Crusaders, who are the highest-scoring team in their class and almost reached their season scoring average of 79.3 points. Alex Fuller chipped in with 11 points.

Bishop Heelan improved to 24-1 and will play in a semifinal game at 6 p.m. Thursday. The Crusaders won the state championship in 2008 and 2010 and finished second in 2009.

Wahlert made a nice run over the second half of the season after losing University of Iowa recruit Claire Till, who had knee surgery in January. Tessa Leytom led the Golden Eagles with 21 points, making 10 of 18 shots. Logan Lynch scored 13 points, while Beth Walker had 10 points and 16 rebounds for Wahlert, which finished 20-5.