When Cedar Rapids Xavier's Kayla Armstrong made a
layup off the opening tip, it was a sign of things to come for the Saints.
Fifth-ranked
Xavier scored most of its baskets on layups and knocked off top-ranked Bishop
Heelan of Sioux City 68-57 to advance to the Class 4A championship game.
Armstrong finished with 22 points to lead the
Saints, who'll meet No. 8 Harlan for the title at 6 p.m. Saturday. It will be
Xavier's first appearance in the finals since 2007, when the Saints won their
third Class 3A championship. They also won in 2003 and 2005.
Xavier earned this trip by constantly pushing the
ball up the floor to beat the Crusaders to the basket. Of the Saints' 24 field
goals, 16 were layups and three others came on putbacks.
Hayley Deutmeyer added 13 points for Xavier,
Sarah Dickes scored 11 and Maddie Bertsch nine. Deutmeyer also grabbed nine
rebounds, Bertsch had eight and Armstrong collected seven rebounds and handed
out seven assists.
Megan McCarthy led Heelan with 16 points and
seven rebounds. MaKayla Augustine scored 15 points, while Taylor Koolstra had
10 points and five assists.
Xavier built a 13-point lead midway through the
third quarter, then responded each time the Crusaders threatened to get back
into the game. Heelan cut the lead to six points four times but never got any
closer.
The last time came when Augustine made a long
3-pointer from the left wing to cut the lead to 56-50 with 2:41 left. Deutmeyer
then drove the baseline for a layup and the Saints secured the victory by
making eight of 10 free throws. Along the way, Armstrong sped down the floor
for one last layup.
Xavier advances with a 16-9 record. Heelan
finishes 21-4.