No. 1 Johnston bounces Liberty 73-45, extends winning streak to 50 games

DES MOINES — Too good.

Just too darn good.

“They’re a whole different level,” Iowa City Liberty Coach Jaime Brandt said of the mighty Johnston Dragons. “They’re just a really, really good, talented, aggressive basketball team.”

That pretty much covers it.

No. 1 Johnston flirted with perfection in the first half and bounced No. 10 Liberty, 73-45, in a Class 5A quarterfinal at the girls’ state basketball tournament Monday morning at Wells Fargo Arena.

“This was the longest we got to practice, five times between the regional finals and now,” Johnston Coach Chad Jilek said after the Dragons (24-0) extended their winning streak to 50 games.

“We had a really good start.”

It was better than really good. Johnston shot 70 percent in the first half, hitting 23 of 33 shots. That includes 20 of 22 inside the 3-point arc.

“We know everybody is going to give us their best shot,” junior guard Jenica Lewis said. “We need to keep our foot on the gas.”

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Johnston roared to a 15-1 lead before Janessa Mosley hit the first basket for Liberty (17-7). It was 24-7 after a quarter, 51-20 at halftime.

The continuous clock went into effect at 63-28 in the third quarter.

“We definitely could have played better,” said Liberty’s Madeline Casey, who hit four 3-pointers in 10 attempts and led the Lightning with 13 points. “(Johnston) is very, very talented, and we tried to control what we could control.”

Junior forward Natalie Ramsey added 11 points and eight rebounds for the Bolts.

“We had our moments in which we did what we came here to do,” the University of South Dakota commit said. “Other times, we could have done a lot better.”

Virginia Tech signee Amani Jenkins led the Dragons with 16 points. Ari Phillips added 15, and Jaliyah Kinnetz came off the bench to score 13.

Three others tallied eight, including Lewis, a highly recruited junior who also posted eight assists.

Johnston will face No. 4 Ankeny Centennial (17-7) in the semifinals at 10 a.m. Thursday. Centennial was a 51-47 first-round winner over No. 5 Pleasant Valley.

Johnston 73, Iowa City Liberty 45

Class 5A State Quarterfinal, at Des Moines

IOWA CITY LIBERTY (45): Ava Casey 3-4 0-0 9, Janessa Mosley 1-2 0-0 2, Kennedy Goodheart 0-4 0-0 0, Natalie Ramsey 3-15 4-6 11, Madeline Casey 4-11 1-2 13, Natalie Schechinger 2-2 1-2 5, Brynlie Walker 1-1 0-0 2, Ava Tague 0-0 0-0 0, Sydney Van Heukelom 0-0 2-2 2, Morgan Bennett 0-2 0-0 0, Madilyn Meyer 0-2 0-0 0, Sydney Heiden 0-0 1-2 1. Totals 14-43 9-14 45.

JOHNSTON (73): Jenica Lewis 3-9 1-2 8, Ari Phillips 7-9 0-0 15, Adaya Phillips 4-5 0-0 8, Kelli Kalb 4-8 0-0 8, Amani Jenkins 7-10 1-1 16, Sidny Pohlman 1-2 0-0 3, Sydney Felice 0-2 0-0 0, Chloe Helgeson 0-0 0-0 0, Jaliyah Kinnetz 5-7 1-1 13, Rubie Pohlman 0-0 0-0 0, Paige Andernacht 1-3 0-0 2, Emma Gray 0-0 0-0 0, Adalyn Hauser 0-0 0-0 0, Hannah Haxton 0-1 0-0 0, Kiya Hood 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 32-56 3-4 73.

Iowa City Liberty 7 13 13 12 — 45

Johnston 24 27 17 5 — 73

3-point goals: Liberty 8-25 (A. Casey 3-4, Goodheart 0-4, Ramsey 1-5, M. Casey 4-10, Meyer 0-2), Johnston 6-21 (Lewis 1-5, Ari Phillips 1-1, Kalb 0-4, Jenkins 1-4, S. Pohlman 1-2, Felice 0-1, Kinnetz 2-4). Team fouls: Liberty 9, Johnston 11. Fouled out: none. Rebounds: Liberty 22 (Ramsey 8), Johnston 33 (Ari Phillips, Adaya Phillips 7). Assists: Liberty 8 (A. Casey 3), Johnston 17 (Lewis 8). Steals: Liberty 7 (Schechinger 2), Johnston 11 (Lewis 4). Turnovers: Liberty 14, Johnston 11.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com