(From IHSAA) DES MOINES – Cedar Falls can be sure its first championship was convincing.

The Tigers were facing off against defending champion and Mississippi Valley Conference rival Iowa City, West on Friday night, and instead of being unnerved by the occasion or competition, they led wire-to-wire in a 65-45 win at Wells Fargo Arena. Led by stellar senior A.J. Green, Cedar Falls jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the opening seconds on seven-time champion West (21-5) and never looked back. Green scored a game-high 24 points, including four made 3-pointers, and was named Class 4A’s All-Tournament Team captain for his three-game performance.

Top-seeded West struggled to cut into a six-point halftime deficit, with Cedar Falls taking a decisive in the large-school title matchup. The Tigers (21-5) also won the regular season meeting, 55-54, in front of their home crowd on Jan. 16. Patrick McCaffery scored 13 points to lead the Trojans. The 6-foot-8 junior forward was the only returning starter from his squad’s 2017 title team.

Logan Wolf and Ben Gerdes joined Green in double figures for the Tigers, scoring 14 and 12 points respectively. Coach Ryan Schultz’s squad shot 51 (74-of-145) percent in three games at Wells Fargo Arena this week.

West finished as runner-up for the third time in 10 title game appearances, including 2016’s loss to Valley, West Des Moines. Coach Steve Bergman is still third all-time in state championship victories and now holds the record for most consecutive state tournament appearances.

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM

Seybian Sims, Iowa City, West

Logan Wolf, Cedar Falls

Noah Hart, Waukee

Joe Wieskamp, Muscatine

Patrick McCaffery, Iowa City, West

A.J. Green, Cedar Falls (captain)

(From IHSAA) DES MOINES – A state title is finally going back to Glenwood. In one of the most thrilling, noisy, and up-tempo championship games of the last decade, the Rams (25-2) escaped fellow first-time finalist Oskaloosa for a 66-62 win on Friday night at Wells Fargo Arena.

A massive crowd took in the back-and-forth contest, as the lead changed 13 times and score was level 11 times before Glenwood had claimed their final advantage and made two late free throws to clinch the title. Oskaloosa and Glenwood were tied at halftime (38-38) and after the third quarter (51-51), so a tense finish felt right, and a flow of dunks, 3-pointers, and standout effort delivered.

Oskaloosa was led by Jarad Kruse’s 21 points, while Cole Henry added 16, and star sophomore Xavier Foster finished with 11 points, nine rebounds and five blocked shots in defeat. Oskaloosa’s seven previous visits to state never included a final, and four were from 1923-30. Coach Ryan Parker’s squad stood up to the environment, shooting a scorching 82 percent in the first quarter and 68 percent for the first half. They cooled after intermission, but still hit eight 3-pointers and had several rim-rattling finishes by Henry and Foster.

Glenwood’s win completed a program turnaround, as coach Curt Schulte brought a freshman class that appeared in Des Moines in 2015 full circle to Friday’s championship. Andrew Blum hit four 3-pointers and recorded a game-high 20 points and 10 rebounds to earn All-Tournament Team captain honors. Christian Stanislav, Nate Mohr, and his freshman brother Ryan Blum all finished in double-digits scoring, too. After being down 20 points to Norwalk in Tuesday’s quarterfinals, raising up a title trophy was sweet for a group that raised their program and community on Friday.

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM

Nate Mohr, Glenwood

Jarad Kruse, Oskaloosa

Matthew Mims, Xavier, Cedar Rapids

Xavier Foster, Oskaloosa

Andrew Blum, Glenwood (captain)