Des Moines Roosevelt's fourth state tournament trip is turning out to be its best.

The fifth-ranked Roughriders are going to the championship game for the first time after beating No. 9 Cedar Rapids Jefferson 54-47 in the Class 4A semifinals Friday.

Roosevelt got solid games from junior guard Charmaine Bell and 6-foot-5 sophomore Emma Van Winkle and secured the victory with free throws in the fourth quarter. The Roughriders had only one field goal in the final period, but sank 11 of 18 free throws after struggling at the line earlier in the game.

Bell led the way with 18 points, seven rebounds and five assists. She finished 10-for-13 at the line. Van Winkle had 12 points and eight rebounds and made six of seven free throws.

Krista Moser scored 11 of Jefferson's final 12 points and finished with 19. She also led the J-Hawks with eight rebounds. Micah Reed added nine points and Allison Galvin scored seven. Abby Burger had six points and six assists.

Jefferson led 40-36 after Moser got a basket inside with 1:30 left in the third quarter, but that was the J-Hawks' last field goal.

Ashley Tindrell scored inside for Roosevelt and Leigh Hotchkiss followed with a 3-pointer from the right corner, giving the Roughriders a 41-40 lead after three quarters. After both teams went scoreless for the first 4 1/2 minutes of the fourth quarter, Van Winkle sank two free throws to start Roosevelt's game-ending parade to the line.

Bell hit two free throws after rebounding a Jefferson miss to make it 51-46 with 36.1 seconds remaining. Then she grabbed another rebound and fired a pass to Quinnetta Claytor for a layup that put Roosevelt up by seven with just 20 seconds remaining.

Hotchkiss finished with nine points and five assists for Roosevelt, which takes a 21-4 record into the title game at 8 p.m. Saturday. Jefferson finishes 21-6.