¶ Just when the momentum was starting to turn, Iowa City High got it back

Just when the momentum was starting to turn, Iowa City High got it back.

The eighth-ranked Little Hawks finished the game with a 24-6 run after briefly giving up the lead and moved into the Class 4A championship game with a 55-39 victory over No. 3 Linn-Mar on Friday.

City High (21-3) will try for its first state title at 7:30 p.m. Saturday against Mississippi Valley Conference rival Cedar Rapids Washington. Before this year, City had been 0-4 in state tournament play.

Adding to the Little Hawks' satisfaction, they've avenged two of their three losses in this year's tournament and Saturday night they’ll have a chance to avenge the third.

They beat Cedar Falls in the first round of the tournament after losing to the Tigers earlier. They split with Linn-Mar during the regular season and lost to Washington 66-52 in the regular-season finale.

University of Iowa recruit Kelly Krei led City against Linn-Mar with 27 points, an effort that included 12-for-15 free throw shooting. She scored 15 points during the Little Hawks' final run.

Virginia Johnson, an impressive 6-foot-1 freshman, added nine points and 14 rebounds for the City and Kim Rickels scored seven.

Jaye Hutcheson led Linn-Mar (22-3) with 14 points. Jaime Printy, a junior who has committed to Iowa, added 13 points, five assists and two steals for the Lions. Another freshman with potential, Kiah Stokes, had six points and nine rebounds for Linn-Mar.

City High led 26-14 at halftime, but Linn-Mar quickly closed the gap in the third quarter, then took a 33-31 lead on consecutive 3-pointers by Printy and Hutcheson at the start of the fourth quarter.

That lead lasted for just over a minute. City High's Ashley Vitosh stole the ball and drove for a layup to tie it and Johnson fed Krei at the top of the key for a 3-pointer that put the Little Hawks up 36-33.

Linn-Mar went more than five minutes without a field goal and City High pulled away with its free throw shooting. The Little Hawks hit 17 of 22 foul shots over the final 4:02. Krei was 12-for-14 in that stretch.