State champs and unbeaten to boot.
It’s been quite a season for Crestwood.
The top-ranked Cadets completed an impressive run through the Class 3A state tournament by beating No. 2 Sioux Center 73-48 to give the school its first title.
Crestwood did it behind the inside scoring of 6-foot-2 sophomore Sharon Goodman and some sharp perimeter shooting by Brynn Bodermann, who normally is not a big scorer.
Bodermann, who came in averaging 5.7 points, was left open at the 3-point line because Sioux Center concentrated on double-teaming Goodman on the low block and she took advantage of the opportunity. The 5-foot-6 senior went 6-for-9 from 3-point range, shot 9-for-14 overall and finished with 26 points.
Goodman scored 20 on 9-for-14 shooting and finished the tournament with 73 points. She was almost automatic when teammates got her the ball in the right spot and shot 76.7 percent in her three games at state, going 33-for-43.
Shannon Pisney added 16 points for the Cadets and the Friesen twins set their teammates up with some crisp passes.
Ellie Friesen just missed a triple double, getting nine points, nine rebounds and nine assists. She finished with a record 37 assists for the tournament, 10 more than the previous mark, and was voted captain of the all-tournament team.
Emily Friesen did not score but compiled 10 assists and eight rebounds. Crestwood shot 53 percent for the game, went 11-for-20 on 3-pointers and had assists on 22 of its 27 baskets.
The dominating victory followed wins by 38 and 24 points, leaving Crestwood with a pristine 26-0 record.
Crestwood was sharp from the beginning. The Cadets finished the first quarter with a 15-3 run for a 20-8 lead and Sioux Center, a very good team in its own right, never was able to get back into it.
Lexi Toering had 19 points and six rebounds to lead Sioux Center, which also was the state runner-up last year. Alyssa Mulder hit four 3-pointers and scored 14 for the Warriors, who finish 24-3.
Ellie Friesen was joined on the all-tournament team by Goodman, Pisney, Toering, Jaedon Murphy of North Polk and Taylor McDonald of Monticello.