Cedar Rapids Xavier pulled off another major upset and now gets a chance for one more.

The unranked Saints beat No. 3 Ballard 52-38 to reach the Class 3A championship game, relying on a combination of rebounding, tough defense and steady ball-handling.

The victory comes after Xavier (17-9) beat second-ranked Norwalk in the quarterfinals. The Saints will face No. 4 Spirit Lake in the title game Saturday night. Spirit Lake advanced with a 62-49 victory over top-ranked Decorah.

Xavier will be going for its third title in five years. The Saints won the championship in 2003 and 2005.

With no player taller than 5-10, Xavier outrebounded Ballard 41-29 and had 18 offensive rebounds, which the Saints turned into a 14-3 edge in second-chance points that proved to be decisive.

The Saints also had just four turnovers and held Ballard to 28.6 percent shooting in the second half.

Ten different players scored for Xavier. Kristin Maher led the way with 10 points and Kelsi Karkosh added nine. Caitlin Bouchard led the Saints with eight rebounds, while Karkosh had three steals.

Ally Jensen and Amanda Zimmerman led Ballard with nine points each. The Bombers, the state runners-up last year, finish 25-2. Their only other loss was to Norwalk.

Ballard rallied from an eight-point deficit to get the lead on four occasions, the last time at 30-28 on Alexa Hugee's turnaround shot. Karkosh's 3-pointer from the left corner put Xavier ahead to stay at 32-30 late in the third quarter.

The Bombers stayed close and trailed just 38-36 after Zimmerman scored inside with 5:38 to play. But that was their final basket and Xavier finished the game with a 14-2 run.