2011 Iowa Girls State Basketball Tournament

Class 2A Semifinals

Estherville-Lincoln Central 36, Roland-Story 24

Estherville-Lincoln Central is enjoying quite a postseason ride.

The unranked Midgettes knocked off No. 3 Carroll Kuemper Catholic to reach the state tournament and now they're heading to the Class 2A championship game after upsetting No. 2 Roland-Story 36-24 in the semifinals.

Next up: No. 1 OA-BCIG at 8 o'clock Friday night for the state title.

Estherville-Lincoln Central shut down Roland-Story with suffocating defense, holding the Norsemen without a basket for more than 19 minutes while building a 29-13 lead early in the fourth quarter.

Roland-Story then put together a brief flurry that included two NBA-range 3-pointers from 6-foot-2 center Maddie Oliver. Oliver also scored off an inbounds play during the 8-2 run, which drew the Norsemen 31-22 with 5 minutes left.

But Emily Kirchner, one of four sophomores who start for the Midgettes, made two big plays to keep her team in control.

First, she grabbed a long rebound and dribbled the length of the court of a layup that made it 33-22. After Roland-Story cut the lead to 33-24 on Dani Beck's basket, Kirchner got free for a breakaway layup off an inbounds play from the sideline. That made it 35-24 with 54 seconds remaining and Midgettes were home free, handing Roland-Story just its second loss in 27 games.

Kirchner finished with 12 points to lead her team. Allie Sievert added seven points, while Alyssa Johnson and Sara Heywood each scored six for Estherville-Lincoln Central, which improved to 23-4.

Oliver, who'll play at Illinois State next season, led Roland-Story with 16 points and 13 rebounds. She went 6-for-9 from the field, including 3-for-4 from 3-point range.