Bishop Garrigan outlasts MMCRU for Class 1A girls state basketball championship
It seemed like a comfortable lead, but then it was gone.
Bishop Garrigan High School of Algona escaped MMCRU, 52-49, in the Class 1A state girls basketball championship game in Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines Saturday night.
Garrigan's Molly Joyce gave the Golden Bears a 45-32 lead with a free throw with 7:47 remaining in the game. But MMRCU wasn't finished.
The Royals scored 14 of the next 15 points to knot the score at 46-all on Kora Alesch's jumper with 2:39 left on the clock. MMCRU just couldn't take the lead.
An Audi Crooks layup at the two-minute mark put Garrigan back on top to stay.
Joyce was named captain of the all-tournament team after averaging 22.7 points, 3.7 assists and 3.7 steals in three state tournament games.
In the title game, Joyce led all scorers with 18 points. Crooks had 15 points, 13 rebounds, four assists and two steals. Crooks led the tournament field in points (72) and field goal percentage (.732).
Taylor Harpenau and Mya Holmes led MMCRU (26-2) with 11 points each and Emily Dreckman scored 10. Ellie Hilbrands finished with eight points and 10 rebounds.
Bishop Garrigan (25-3) beat Notre Dame, 77-42, in Wednesday's quarterfinals and North Linn, 74-57, in the Friday semifinals. It was Notre Dame's only loss after opening the season with 23 straight wins.
Joining Joyce on the all-tournament team were her teammate Crooks, Dreckman and Harpenau from MMCRU, Macy Sievers of Newell-Fonda and North Linn's Kamryn Kurt.
CLASS 4A CHAMPIONSHIP
XAVIER 54, BISHOP HEELAN 4O: A 37-16 run in the second half lifted Cedar Rapids Xavier to the state championship.
The Saints (20-6) trailed 24-17 at halftime.
Riley Jonker led Xavier with 13 points. Mary Kate Moeder scored 11 and Lexi Beier added 10. The Saint's Libby Fandel finished with nine points, seven rebounds, two assists, two blocked shots and a steal.
Fandel, a six-foot freshman, was named the all-tournament team captain. She led the tournament in rebounds with 24 over three games and assists with 14, She was second in scoring with 39 points for a 13-point average.
Jada Newburg led Bishop Heelan (23-3) with 13 points. Kenley Meis had 10 points and eight rebounds.
Joining Fandel on the all-tournament team were Xavier's Kyla Mason, Heelan's Newburg and Brooklyn Stanley, Abbie Hughes of Glenwood and Emma Miner of Dallas Center-Grimes
CLASS 2A CHAMPIONSHIP
DIKE-NEW HARTFORD 59, CENTRAL LYON 52: Sophomore twins Payton and Jadyn Petersen apparently like to do things in twos and they recorded three double doubles each in the state tournament.
That led Dike-New Hartford (24-2) to a state championship win over Central Lyon.
Payton, named captain of the all-tournament team, had 23 points and 13 rebounds in the title tilt. Jadyn, also named all-tournament, added 15 points and 12 rebounds. For the three games in the state tournament, the Petersens accounted for 101 points and 67 rebounds.
Jayden led the tournament in points with 58 and rebounds with 34. She gave the Wolverines plenty of second chances by averaging eight offensive rebounds per game. Jadyn was third in points with 43 and second in rebounds with 33.
Ellary Knock added 11 points and six rebounds for Dike-New Hartford in the title game.
Addison Klosterbuer led Central Lyon (24-2) with 19 points. Desta Hoogendoorn had 12 points, 10 rebounds and two blocked shots.
Joining the Petersens on the all-tournament team were Hoodendoorn and Klosterbuer, Panorama's Payton Beckman and Denver's Reese Johnson.
This article originally appeared on The Hawk Eye: Bishop Garrigan wins Class 1A state championship in nail biter
