Battle
Creek-Ida Grove's Kelsey Bolte made the most dramatic shot of the state
tournament so far.
Bolte hit a turnaround jumper from the
left baseline at the buzzer to give Battle Creek-Ida Grove a 59-57 victory over
Wapsie Valley in the Class 2A quarterfinals.
The clutch
shot capped a big day for Bolte, who finished with 23 points and 18 rebounds.
She scored seven of the Falcons' final 10 points in the game, which had four
lead changes in the last 4 minutes.
Battle Creek-Ida Grove led by as
many as nine points in the second half, but Wapsie Valley wouldn't go away. The
Warriors twice led by a point in the fourth quarter and pulled into a tie at 57
when Alana Wittenburg made two free throws with 1:50 left.
After each team missed a shot, Battle
Creek-Ida Grove played for the final shot. Coach Patrick Miller called a
timeout with 18.3 seconds left to set up the last play and Bolte made it work
perfectly.
Gabi Miller added eight points for
Battle Creek-Ida Grove, while Dani Miller, Crystal Schiembeck and Rebecca Shomo
each scored six. Schiembeck also grabbed a key offensive rebound after a missed
free throw, setting up a jumper by Bolte that gave the fifth-ranked Falcons a
54-53 lead.
Battle Creek-Ida Grove takes a
26-1 record into the semifinals at 2:30 p.m. Thursday. Wapsie Valley finishes
19-7.
Jamie Sickles led Wapsie Valley
with 22 points. She also had seven rebounds, five assists and four steals.
Sickles finishes her career as the state leader in assists.
Brittney McKowen scored 11 points
for the Warriors and Ashley Kleitsch added 10. Heidi Schmidt led Wapsie Valley
in rebounding with eight.