Twenty-seven years after winning its only state championship, Western Dubuque finally is getting a chance to win another.

The eighth-ranked Bobcats survived a long second-half scoring drought and beat No. 7 Ballard 30-23 to earn a shot at top-ranked Harlan in Saturday night's championship game.

The return trip to the finals comes in Western Dubuque's first state tournament trip since it won the 1987 championship in the early years of the five-player game. The Bobcats will take a 23-2 record into the 6 p.m. finale against the unbeaten Cyclones.

Western Dubuque led 22-12 when Rose Simon-Ressler hit a jumper with 5:23 left in the third quarter, then went cold and Ballard clawed back into it.

The Bombers scored eight straight points to get within two, then tied it at 23 on Meredith Ossian's 3-pointer with 4:48 left.

But the Bobcats picked it up on the defensive end and held Ballard scoreless the rest of the way, breaking the tie on Simon-Ressler's bucket in the lane with 4:26 remaining. Western Dubuque then made five free throws to finish it off.

Simon-Ressler led the Bobcats with 15 points, while sophomore Megan Maahs added 12 points and nine rebounds. Maahs made a key block and grabbed three rebounds in the final 2 1/2 minutes to lead the Bobcats' late effort on defense.

Sophomore Gabie Doud led Ballard with 11 points and Ossian scored five. The Bombers made it to state for the eighth time in the last nine years and finished 21-5.