2011 Iowa Girls State Basketball Tournament

Class 4A First Round

Des Moines East 68, Waukee 39

Top-ranked Des Moines East has been on a roll all season and it continued in the first round of the Class 4A tournament.

Markisha Wright scored 23 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to lead unbeaten East past No. 10 Waukee 68-39 and into the semifinals for the second straight year.

Nijay Gaines and Shronda Butts each scored 10 points for the Scarlets, who wore down the Warriors with their withering defensive pressure. East came up with 11 steals, with 5-foot Sharnae Lamar getting four of them, and owned a 37-26 rebounding edge.

The 6-2 Wright, who has signed with Notre Dame, attacked the glass relentlessly and got nine of her rebounds on the offensive end. She made 11 of 18 shots and her first seven field goals came on putbacks.

Sophomore Megan Shyrack led Waukee with 13 points. Megan Goodson scored nine and Amy Nestingen added eight.

Waukee kept it close in the early going and trailed just 26-24 after Shyrack scored on a layup late in the first half. But the East defense then started taking its toll and the Scarlets outscored Waukee 18-3 during a 5 1/2-minute stretch spanning halftime, expanding their lead to 44-27.

Wright contributed five baskets to that run -- three putbacks, a slick turnaround and a layup. She got fouled on the first putback and turned it into a three-point play.

An 11-1 run stretched the lead to 57-33 with just under 5 minutes to play.

East, the state runner-up last year, will take a 24-0 record against No. 5 Southeast Polk at 1:45 p.m. Friday, a rematch of a regular-season game that the Scarlets won 56-45.

Waukee, which started only one senior, finished 19-6.