2011 Iowa Girls State Basketball Tournament

Class 3A First Round

Ballard 46, Ballard 39

Top-ranked Ballard got a big lift from its bench in advancing to the Class 3A semifinals for the sixth straight year.

Taylor Greenfield scored 17 points and the team's reserves accounted for 19 as the Bombers turned back 10th-ranked South Tama 46-39.

Those bench players were especially valuable in the first half, when Greenfield sat out 6 1/2 minutes after picking up her second foul and the other starters struggled against South Tama's sticky defense.

During one stretch, reserves scored 13 straight Ballard points to rally the Bombers after South Tama made four 3-pointers in jumping to a 12-4 lead. Rachel Sage hit back-to-back 3-pointers to get the Bombers going and they led 19-18 at halftime.

South Tama regained the lead midway through the third quarter, going up 28-24 on Kendra Bradley's 3. That's when Greenfield went to work.

The Stanford recruit hit a jumper to start a 12-0 run that sent Ballard into 36-28 lead. Greenfield had nine points in all during that burst, including a 3-pointer and a layup after stealing the ball at midcourt while South Tama was holding for the last shot of the third quarter.

South Tama got the lead down to 37-34 on another 3-pointer by Bradley, but Greenfield drove into the lane for a bucket and Ballard secured the game by making seven of nine free throws.

Sage led the Ballard reserves with eight points, while starting guard Sammy Jensen scored seven. The Bombers improved to 24-1 and will play fourth-ranked Davenport Assumption at 6 p.m. Thursday.

¶ Bradley led South Tama with 11 points. Madison Baier had eight points and nine rebounds for the Trojans, while Dia Keahna scored seven. South Tama, making its first appearance at state in the five-player era, finishes 22-3.