Audi Crooks too tall, Algona Garrigan too much for North Linn in girls’ state basketball semifinals

DES MOINES — It was nothing that Audi Crooks hadn’t seen before.

“I knew they were going to double-team and triple-team me,” Crooks said. “They sandwiched me.”

They sandwiched her. But the North Linn Lynx couldn’t slow her. And they couldn’t match her on the boards.

Crooks posted 25 points and 16 rebounds, and second-ranked Algona Garrigan withstood No. 6 North Linn’s second-half surge, 74-57, in a Class 1A semifinal at the girls’ state basketball tournament Friday afternoon at Wells Fargo Arena.

The Lynx cut a 14-point halftime deficit to 56-52 on Kamryn Kurt’s basket with 5:41 left, but the rally stopped there.

Garrigan (24-3) hit 14 of 15 free throws in the final 5:10 to spread out the final margin.

“We never gave up,” Kurt said. “It didn’t go our way today, but our team showed a lot of grit.”

North Linn (23-3) shot well enough, hitting 50 percent (20 of 40) from the field, including 7 of 12 from 3-point range. But a 36-14 Garrigan rebounding rout was too much to overcome.

“Some of that is because we were undersized,” Lynx Coach Brian Wheatley said. “And some of it was because we weren’t physical enough.

“The first half, we were kind of tight. We didn’t attack the basket. Like I told them at halftime, if we were going to do down, we were going to go down swinging.”

The Lynx cut a 38-24 halftime deficit to 54-45 by the end of the third quarter, then continued the comeback through the first 2 1/2 minutes of the fourth.

Chloe Van Etten’s three-point play carved the margin to 54-50, then Kurt’s hoop made it 56-52.

But the Golden Bears scored the next seven points, and it was clear sailing from there.

The 2020 and 2021 1A runner-up, Garrigan will get another title shot at 7 p.m. Saturday against No. 4 Marcus MMCRU (26-1), a surprise 66-62 victor over three-time defending champion Newell-Fonda.

“I know a lot of people wanted to see that third matchup with Newell-Fonda, but we were more worried about us,” Crooks said. “We took care of business.”

Junior guard Molly Joyce matched Crooks with 25 points, hitting 12 of 13 free throws, and dished out five assists.

North Linn battled Garrigan to a 6-6 draw through the first five minutes, but the Golden Bears closed the opening quarter with a 10-2 run for a 16-8 lead.

Garrigan assembled an 8-0 run midway through the second quarter for a 28-16 margin, then closed the half with another 8-0 surge — fueled by consecutive 3-pointers by freshman Zoe Montag — for a 38-24 lead.

“(Crooks) was hard to prepare for,” North Linn’s Ellie Flanagan said. “We had to adjust, and we did, a little too late.”

Kurt led the Lynx with 19 points (hitting 7 of 10 shots, 4 of 4 from long range) and six assists. Macy Boge added 12 points, Flanagan 10.

All three of them return next season.

Algona Garrigan 74, North Linn 57

Class 1A State Semifinal, at Des Moines

NORTH LINN (57): Chloe Van Etten 2-3 1-1 5, Macy Boge 4-7 3-6 12, Molly Boge 2-5 2-2 7, Kamryn Kurt 7-10 1-2 19, Ellie Flanagan 3-7 3-3 10, Skylar Benesh 1-2 0-0 2, Elise Ware 1-5 0-0 2, Ella Ries 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 20-40 10-14 57.

ALGONA GARRIGAN (74): Emma Grandgenett 2-5 0-0 4, Molly Joyce 6-14 12-13 25, Abbie Capesius 3-4 3-4 9, Meredith Tigges 0-5 2-2 2, Audi Crooks 10-15 5-6 25, Zoe Montag 4-5 0-0 9, Ashlyn Hovey 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 24-50 22-25 74.

North Linn 8 16 21 12 — 57

Algona Garrigan 16 22 16 20 — 74

3-point goals: North Linn 7-12 (Macy Boge 1-2, Molly Boge 1-1, Kurt 4-4, Flanagan 1-4, Ware 0-1), Garrigan 4-16 (Grandgenett 0-3, Joyce 1-4, Tigges 0-3, Montag 3-4, Hovey 0-2). Team fouls: North Linn 20, Garrigan 14. Fouled out: Molly Boge. Rebounds: North Linn 14 (Molly Boge, Kurt 4), Garrigan 36 (Crooks 16). Assists: North Linn 10 (Kurt 6), Crooks 12 (Joyce 5). Steals: North Linn 5 (Macy Boge 2), Garrigan 8 (Joyce 3). Turnovers: North Linn 11, Garrigan 9.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com