Make it a three-peat for Davenport Assumption.
Top-ranked Assumption led from the opening tip
and rolled past No. 3 Estherville-Lincoln Central 62-40 to win the Class 3A
championship for the third straight year.
Along the way, the Knights set a state tournament
record by making 23 3-pointers in their three games, topping the old mark of 21
by Battle Creek-Ida Grove in 2007.
Assumption also played aggressive defense
throughout the tournament, holding opponents to an average of 30.3 points a
game while winning by an average of 35 points.
Only four other schools have won three
consecutive titles. Ankeny won four in a row from 2002-05. Lynnville-Sully,
Rock Valley and Washington have won three in a row.
Hailey Schneden, whose inside scoring complemented the Knights' outside
shooting, led Assumption with 16 points. She went 7-for-9 from the field,
pulled down four rebounds and blocked five shots.
Danielle Moore added 13 points and six assists
for the Knights, while Maddie Irmen
had 12 points and seven rebounds.
Emily Kirchner had 14 points and eight rebounds
for Estherville-Lincoln Central. Allie Sievert added
nine points and nine rebounds.
Toughened by a schedule of mostly Class 5A
schools, Assumption finished 25-2, losing only to Rock Island, Illinois, and
Southeast Polk, which will play in the 5A championship game Saturday night.
Estherville-Lincoln Central, which finished as the state runner-up for the
second time in three years, closed with a 23-4 record.
Moore was voted captain of the all-tournament
team. She was joined on that unit by Schneden,
Kirchner, Sievert, Assumption's Kate Fennelly and MOC-Floyd Valley's Alexis Conaway.