Iowa girls' state basketball tournament: A closer look at Saturday's games

DES MOINES — Capsules for Saturday's games involving area teams at the Iowa high school girls' state basketball tournament at Wells Fargo Arena.

Class 2A championship

No. 3 North Linn (24-2) vs. No. 5 Osage (24-2)

Time: 5 p.m.

Top players: Grace Flanagan (5-8, sr.) paces a veteran North Linn squad, averaging 18.3 points, 4.5 assists and 4.1 steals per game. She shoots 48.3 percent from 3-point range. Ellie Ware (6-0, jr.) adds 11.4 points and 6.7 rebounds per game, and Abby Flanagan (5-10, sr.) scores at a 10.2-point clip. Sidney Brandau (6-0, sr.) paces Osage at 17.7 points and 7.7 rebounds per game, with Dani Johnson (6-0, jr.) and Ellie Bobinet (5-9, jr.) adding 14.5 and 10.3 points per game, respectively.

Coaches: North Linn Coach Brian Wheatley owns a 303-81 record in 15 seasons, leading the Lynx to 10 straight seasons of 20-plus wins. Osage Coach Chad Erickson stands at 302-127 in 19 seasons.

Road to the finals: North Linn outlasted No. 8 Western Christian, 49-44, in the quarterfinals, then rallied from a 12-point second-half deficit to dump No. 2 West Hancock, 61-46, in the semis. Osage defeated both River Valley division champions, topping No. 6 West Branch, 50-43, and No. 1 Cascade, 46-32.

BC Moore computer projection: North Linn by 8

Saturday's other games

Class 4A championship

No. 1 North Scott (26-0) vs. No. 7 Lewis Central (21-5), 3 p.m.

Class 1A championship

No. 1 Newell-Fonda (26-0) vs. No. 4 Algona Garrigan (25-1), 7 p.m.

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