Pauley shoots OA-BCIG into 2A final

DES MOINES -- Call it phenomenal. Call it perfect.

"I'd call it a buzzsaw," said Monticello Coach Donnie Kremer.

Jessie Pauley tied a state-tournament record with seven 3-pointers -- she was 7-for-7 from long range -- in a brilliant 33-point, 15-rebound performance as top-ranked Ida Grove OA-BCIG dusted No. 8 Monticello, 67-44, in a Class 2A semifinal at the girls' state basketball tournament Thursday afternoon at Wells Fargo Arena.

"I was just feeling it today," Pauley said. "The whole team wants this, and I'm going to make it a reality."

"This," presumably, is a 2A state championship, and the Falcons (25-0) are a win away from grabbing it. They face Estherville-Lincoln Central (23-4) for the title at 8 p.m. Friday.

ELC knocked off No. 2 Roland-Story, 36-24, Thursday.

Monticello closed a historic season at 25-2. The Panthers captured their first conference crown in school history and set a school record for wins.

But they weren't in OA-BCIG's stratosphere. Not the way Pauley was shooting.

A junior who has committed to UNI, Pauley was 12 of 17 from the field. Her 3-point barrage began midway through the first quarter, and didn't stop until OA-BCIG had the Panthers buried.

She had three treys in the second quarter as OA-BCIG built a 37-21 halftime lead, then started the third quarter with three long shots in a row as the margin increased to 46-21.

"We wanted to get a hand in their face," said Monticello's Kelsie Etten. "We stopped their middle, but we couldn't stop their outside shooters."

Pauley had 32 points through three quarters.

"Everything she put up, she would make," said Monticello's Brooke Stahlberg. "She kept shooting it and kept making it."

Monticello played a reasonably solid floor game. The Panthers battled to a near-draw on the boards and had seven fewer turnovers than the Falcons. But Monticello was 16 of 60 from the floor (27 percent) while OA-BCIG was 9 of 17 from long range.

And there's your ball game.

The Panthers recovered from an early 12-3 blast, creeping within 20-17 on Stahlberg's drive with 7:11 left in the second quarter.

Then Pauley exploded. And so did Falcons. OA-BCIG capped the half with a 17-4 surge.

Etten led Monticello with 14 points and 12 rebounds. Stahlberg scored 12 points.

AT DES MOINES

OA-BCIG (67): Morgan VanDerSloot 4-10 1-1 10, Katie Kallin 1-4 1-1 3, Ashley Zobel 1-7 4-7 7, Jessie Pauley 12-17 2-3 33, Lexi Olerich 2-3 3-6 7, Mallory Cates 0-0 0-0 0, Mariah Cates 0-0 0-0 0, Becca Grote 0-1 0-0 0, Kendra Wunschel 0-0 1-2 1, Skye Schmidt 0-0 0-0 0, Kenze Teut 3-5 0-0 6, Erin Rasmussen 0-0 0-0 0, Jensen Boger 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-47 12-20 67.

MONTICELLO (44): Brooke Stahlberg 4-12 3-6 12, Jordan Aitchison 0-5 3-4 3, Taylor Aitchison 0-1 0-0 0, Sydney Herman 0-3 0-0 0, Kelsie Etten 7-15 0-5 14, Courtney Iben 0-1 0-0 0, Heidi Wolf 0-1 0-0 0, Andrea Bone 0-0 0-0 0, Ashley Kremer 2-9 0-0 5, Kelsey Iben 0-0 0-0 0, Paxtyn Keleher 0-3 2-3 2, Kendall Yousse 0-0 0-0 0, Tracy Hermsen 1-2 2-2 4, Becca Dirks 2-6 0-0 4, Taylor Utter 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 16-60 10-20 44.

Halftime: OA-BCIG 37, Monticello 21.

3-point goals: OA-BCIG 9-17 (VanDerSloot 1-3, Zobel 1-7, Pauley 7-7), Monticello 2-12 (Stahlberg 1-4, J.Aitchison 0-2, T.Aitchison 0-1, Kremer 1-4, Utter 0-1).

Team fouls: OA-BCIG 17, Monticello 16.

Fouled out: none.

Rebounds: OA-BCIG 38 (Pauley 15), Monticello 37 (Etten 12).

Assists: OA-BCIG 10 (Zobel 4), Monticello 5 (five with 1).

Steals: OA-BCIG 9 (Kallin, Pauley 3), Monticello 12 (Stahlberg 6).

Turnovers: OA-BCIG 23, Monticello 16.