Western Christian 67, Pella Christian 57

Western Christian kept finding answers when Pella Christian threatened. The result was the school’s first state championship in girls basketball.

All-tournament captain Brooke Wolterstorff scored 16 points and the fifth-ranked Wolfpack got a major contribution from freshman Jamie Gesink in beating No. 15 Pella Christian 67-57 to win the Class 2A state championship.

Gesink scored 14 points, hitting a pair of key 3-pointers in the second half and going 4-for-4 on free throws. Alissa Pollema and Shae DeJager each scored 12 points for Western Christian and DeJager and pulled 11 rebounds.

Western jumped to a 23-8 lead early in the second quarter and while Pella Christian never led, the Eagles got back into the game and kept pressure on the Wolfpack to the end.

Christina Nolte and Tayler Stursma scored 14 points each to lead Pella Christian. Jasmin Schelhaas added 12 points and six assists for the Eagles, while Sami Veenstra scored 10 points. Pella Christian stayed in it with outstanding free throw shooting, making 21 of 23.

In an impressive display of sportsmanship, the two teams posed for a group photo after the game. They played during the regular season, Western winning 74-72.

Western Christian won its last 12 games and 15 of the last 16 to finish 25-3. Pella Christian finished 23-4.

Down by 10 at halftime, Pella Christian started the second half with a 12-4 run to cut the lead to 37-35. Gesink, a 5-foot-8 guard, then hit a 3-pointer to start a 12-2 run that put the Wolfpack ahead 49-37.

But Pella Christian answered back. Schelhaas scored six points and fed Stursma for a layup during a 12-3 run that cut the lead to 52-49. Gesink stopped that rally with another 3-pointer and the Wolfpack finally pulled away for good.

Nolte, Schelhaas and Western Christian’s Kim Kroeze joined Wolterstorff on the all-tournament team, which also included Jessie Pauley of OA-BCIG and Tember Schechinger of IKM-Manning.

Western Christian won its title with a starting lineup of four juniors and a sophomore. The team had only one senior, so the Wolfpack should be a threat to repeat next season.

Ankeny 47, SE Polk 45

Ankeny won its rubber match with Southeast Polk and it came in the game that counted the most.

Maddie Manning scored five points in the final 73 seconds and teammate Krista Pettepier made a key block as fourth-ranked Ankeny beat No. 1 Southeast Polk 47-45 to reach the Class 4A state championship game.

The Hawkettes will try for their 11th state title against No. 2 Iowa City West at 8 o’clock Saturday night. A victory in that game would give Ankeny coach Scott DeJong his seventh championship.

Ankeny and Southeast Polk split their two regular-season games, Ankeny winning 33-29 at midseason and Southeast Polk prevailing 55-31 in the regular-season finale. The Hawkettes improved to 22-3, while Southeast Polk finished 24-2.

The game turned out to be as intense and as close as expected.

Ankeny bolted to a 13-2 lead and led 18-8 after one quarter behind Maddie Muhlenbruck’s seven points. But Southeast Polk’s Caitlin Ingle led the Rams back into the game.

Ingle scored 11 points and had an assist in a 15-0 run that spanned halftime and pulled Southeast Polk into a 28-24 lead. Then the Hawkettes clawed back and when Manning hit a 3-pointer at the start of the fourth quarter, Ankeny went up 36-33 and never trailed again.

Manning, who has signed with Oklahoma, converted a three-point play on a drive to the basket to give Ankeny a 45-41 lead with 1:13 remaining. After Southeast Polk tied it at 45, Manning sank two free throws with 38.5 seconds left for the final points. Pettepier, who has signed with Pittsburgh, blocked Ingle’s shot in the lane moments later and the Hawkettes held on.

Manning finished with 13 points, Muhlenbruck scored 12 and Pettepier had 10 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks. Ingle led Southeast Polk with 18 points and Annie Panquite scored nine.

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – Lindsey Moore scored 26 points and two teammates had double-doubles as No. 24 Nebraska defeated Iowa 80-68 Friday in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten women’s tournament.

 Moore hit 10 of 15 shots, including four 3-pointers, and had six assists and five steals for the sixth-seeded Cornhuskers (23-7). They’ll face No. 14 Ohio State (25-5) in the semifinals Saturday.

 Nebraska’s Jordan Hooper had 15 points and 10 rebounds, while Emily Cady scored 13 points with 11 boards. Hailie Sample added 10 points.

 Kamille Wahlin and Samantha Logic scored 17 points apiece to lead the third-seeded Hawkeyes (19-11). Morgan Johnson had 12 points and six blocks. Logic added eight rebounds and six assists.

 Nebraska trailed by nine early in the second half. But the Huskers broke free from a 52-52 tie with a 7-0 spurt on baskets by Hooper and Cady and a 3-pointer by Moore, and they never trailed again.

ST. LOUIS (AP) – Jackie Carmichael’s 12th double-double of the season led Illinois State to a 54-42 victory over Northern Iowa in the quarterfinals of the Missouri Valley Conference tournament Friday.

 Carmichael had 16 points and 15 rebounds for the fourth-seeded Redbirds (19-12), who will face No. 15 and top-seeded Wichita State (27-4) in the semifinals Saturday. Carmichael also blocked five shots.

 Johnny Moran hit three 3-pointers and scored 13 points to pace the fifth-seeded Panthers (19-13), who were outrebounded 48-33.

 Illinois State shot only 34.5 percent (20 of 58), but Northern Iowa was limited to 25.5 percent (14 of 55).

 The Redbirds used a 9-0 run midway through the second half to seal the game. After Moran had put the Panthers ahead 31-29, Illinois State scored nine in a row for a 38-31 lead with 9:17 left.

 Northern Iowa got no closer than three after that.

Iowa City West 64, Waukee 50

A second-half shooting blitz sent Iowa City West back to the Class 4A championship game.

The second-ranked Women of Troy shot 74 percent in a second half filled with impressive offensive basketball and beat No. 6 Waukee 64-50 in semifinal action. West will take a 24-1 record into the championship game at 8 o’clock Saturday night.

In their first state tournament appearance a year ago, the Women of Troy lost to Des Moines East in the title game.

Ally Disterhoft, the only junior in West’s otherwise all-senior starting lineup, led her team with 18 points. Mckenzie Piper and Tatum Klein each scored 11 points, while Jessica Shull scored nine on perfect shooting — 3-for-3 from the field and 3-for-3 at the free throw line.

Disterhoft, who is getting attention from Division I universities, added three assists and two steals. Piper led the Women of Troy with seven rebounds.

Britney Boland led Waukee with 16 points and Megan Shryack scored 11.

Waukee used a 17-3 run to build a 19-10 lead early in the second quarter and led 22-15 at halftime. West made only five of 21 shots in the opening half, but found the range quickly in the third quarter, hitting Waukee with a 26-8 run to open a 41-30 lead. The lead was never below nine points after that.

West made 16 of its first 20 shots in the second half and finished the half 17-for-23. The Women of Troy pushed the ball up the court for fastbreak layups, hit mid-range jumpers and knocked down their first 3-point shots of the half after going 0-for-6 from long range in the first two quarters.

It was similar to Waukee’s sizzling shooting in a first-round victory over Mason City. The Warriors made 13 of 14 shots in the second half of that game and won 49-47.

Waukee, in the state tournament for the fifth straight year, finished 20-6.