Triple-overtime! Xavier advances to 4A girls’ state basketball championship game with win over DCG

DES MOINES — Thirty-seven years, 872 games, Tom Lilly has coached.

And this was his first triple-overtime endeavor.

“I hope it’s my last,” he said. “I felt like I was going to have a panic attack.”

His players, on the other hand, were cool, calm and triumphant.

Kyla Mason extended the game with two free throws at the end of regulation, then freshman Libby Fandel took over in the third overtime as fifth-ranked Cedar Rapids Xavier outlasted No. 1 Dallas Center-Grimes, 55-50, in a Class 4A semifinal at the girls’ state basketball tournament Thursday evening at Wells Fargo Arena.

“I’m so happy,” Mason said. “It was an amazing game. I’m overjoyed that we get to go to the championship game.”

Xavier (19-6) will face No. 3 Sioux City Heelan (23-2) — a 68-51 victor over No. 2 Glenwood — for the 4A title at 2:30 Saturday afternoon.

The Saints will be pursuing their fifth crown; they won in 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2013.

Mason has been dynamite in Des Moines. In two games here this week, she is 14 of 20 from the field and has scored 30 points.

None were more memorable than the two at the end of regulation.

With the Saints trailing 38-36, Fandel missed a couple of shots from near the basket. Mason got the rebound and was fouled with 4.1 seconds left.

She made the first, then the Mustangs (21-4) called timeout before the second. It didn’t matter.

Swish. Overtime.

“It was a little nerve-racking, but my teammates told me it was going to go in,” Mason said.

Xavier had a 44-40 lead with 1:30 left in the first overtime, but the Mustangs rallied to tie.

In the second extra session, Mason scored on a feed from Fandel to tie it, 47-47, with 2:24 to go, and neither team struck again.

Fandel, who finished with 18 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists, opened the scoring in the third overtime with a 3-pointer.

“My shot had been off a little today, but I have shot that shot a million times,” she said. “I still had the confidence that I could make it.”

Fandel scored again to make it 52-49, and Xavier led 53-50 when DCG’s Emma Miner missed a 3-pointer. The Saints rebounded and Mason got a clinching layup in the closing seconds, setting off a celebration.

“So many emotions,” Lexi Turner said. “I’m so happy ... we’re enjoying every moment.”

The triple-overtime game was the first in the tournament since Cascade outlasted North Union in a 2A semifinal in 2018. That team went on to win a championship.

This had no early indications of becoming a classic. Xavier went scoreless for the final 7:21 of the first half, and trailed 15-11 at intermission.

But the Saints got their groove going early in the third quarter. A seven-point run put them in front, 22-19, and they enjoyed their lergest lead at 34-27 with 5:30 left in regulation.

They went cold again, though, and ultimately needed Mason’s two free throws to keep playing.

Mason added 16 points for the winners.

Miner paced Dallas Center-Grimes with 16 points. Vanessa Bickford tacked on 10.

The Mustangs were 10 of 22 from the free-throw line.

“We were so close,” Miner said. “This felt like a championship game. It went back and forth. They got it at the end, and we didn’t.”

Lilly was somewhat soaked in the press room afterward after undergoing a water-bottle shower in the locker room.

Always well dressed, he wore a blue tie. It was assumed, knowing his superstitious tendencies, that he would don it again Saturday.

“Nope,” he said. “This tie has too much overtime in it.”

Cedar Rapids Xavier 55, Dallas Center-Grimes 50 (3 OT)

Class 4A State Semifinal, at Des Moines

C.R. XAVIER (55): Maya Karl 0-1 0-0 0, Libby Fandel 7-15 3-4 18, Lexi Beier 0-3 2-3 2, Maddie Steger 2-7 0-0 4, Mary Kate Moeder 2-3 0-2 5, Emma Arnold 0-3 0-0 0, Riley Jonker 1-3 2-2 4, Sydney Huber 1-1 0-0 3, Kyla Mason 7-9 2-2 16, Lexi Turner 1-4 1-2 3. Totals 21-49 10-15 55.

DALLAS CENTER-GRIMES (50): Avery Korsching 2-6 2-4 6, Vanessa Bickford 3-7 3-7 10, Ella Lampe 1-3 2-4 4, Elle Nelsen 1-4 1-2 3, Emma Miner 7-14 0-1 16, Kayla Reis 0-2 0-0 0, Finley Fitzgerald 3-10 2-4 8, Josie Lampe 1-4 0-0 3. Totals 18-50 10-22 50.

C.R. Xavier 9 2 17 10 6 3 8 -- 55

Dallas Center-Grimes 9 6 10 13 6 3 3 -- 50

3-point goals: Xavier 3-11 (Fandel 1-4, Beier 0-2, Steger 0-1, Moeder 1-1, Arnold 0-1, Huber 1-1, Turner 0-1), DCG 4-18 (Bickford 1-2, Nelsen 0-2, Miner 2-6, Reis 0-2, Fitzgerald 0-3, J. Lampe 1-3). Team fouls: Xavier 22, DCG 13. Fouled out: Moeder. Rebounds: Xavier 31 (Fandel 10), DCG 35 (Bickford, E. Lampe, Miner 6). Assists: Xavier 13 (Fandel 7), DCG 7 (Korsching 5). Steals: Xavier 6 (Fandel 3), DCG 10 (E. Lampe 3). Turnovers: Xavier 18, DCG 16.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com