D.M. East downs Women of Troy, completes perfection

DES MOINES -- The fuse blew at the beginning of the fourth quarter.

That's when top-ranked Des Moines East to turn a toss-up into completed perfection, scoring 12 straight points in less than three minutes and sprinting away from No. 3 Iowa City West, 52-40, to win the Class 4A girls' basketball championship Saturday night at Wells Fargo Arena.

"We knew we were kind of playing with fire," said West Coach B.J. Mayer. "They have so much talent."

Last year's runners-up, the Scarlets and their four Division-I recruits completed an undefeated season -- 26 wins and no losses.

"This one feels great," said all-tournament captain Markisha Wright, who will play for Notre Dame next year. "Though the game was close, we wanted to stay calm and shoot good shots, one by one."

It was anybody's game as the teams broke the huddle to begin the fourth quarter. East's lead was a tenuous 29-27.

Three minutes later, it was 41-27.

"They've got really great players that know when to step up," said West's Mckenzie Piper. "They got a run on us."

Sharnae Lamar started it on the first possession of the final quarter with a basket from the elbow. Shronda Butts continued with a 3-pointer. Then it was a drive by Nijay Gaines and a coast-to-coast escapade by Lamar.

Royonah Marble capped it with a trey, the margin was 14 and the Scarlets were on their way. When the final buzzer sounded, East Coach Sam Powell turned from the bench and chucked a towel into the East crowd.

West's 40 points was a season-low.

"They were incredibly tough," said West's Ally Disterhoft. "They didn't have one weak defender. It's tough to play against them. They made every shot difficult."

West's first state trip in school history ended with a runner-up finish, and its best season concluded at 23-3.

The best may be yet to come. All five staters return, including all-tournament selections Disterhoft and Jessica Shull.

"We should be happy and proud of what we've done this year," Shull said. "Next year, we're going to come get it all."

Other members of the all-tourney team were Butts, Kiah Stokes of Linn-Mar and Caitlin Ingle of Southeast Polk.

West shot just 18 percent from the field in the first half, but trailed just 21-17.

The Scarlets opened to an 9-2 lead before the Women of Troy chipped away from the line. And when Disterhoft nailed a pair of free throws after the first-quarter horn sounded, West owned a 10-9 advantage.

West extended it to 14-11 on Disterhoft's bucket with 4:58 left in the half, but the Scarlets closed with a 10-3 run to take a four-point lead into the locker room.

The lead grew to seven, then the Women of Troy battled within 29-27 at the end of the third quarter.

Then came the fourth period. And then came the three-minute knockout blow.

Wright finished with 16 points for the winners. Butts added 11 points and 10 rebounds.

Disterhoft paced West with 12 points; Piper added 11.

AT DES MOINES

IOWA CITY WEST (40): Ally Disterhoft 3-9 6-8 12, Brianna Sturtz 1-2 0-0 3, Shelly Stumpff 3-7 0-1 6, Jessica Shull 1-2 0-0 2, Mckenzie Piper 5-12 0-0 11, Shahana Williams 1-3 1-2 4, Kelley Fliehler 0-0 0-0 0, Tatum Klein 0-7 2-3 2, Paige Yoder 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 14-42 9-14 40.

DES MOINES EAST (52): Shronda Butts 3-10 4-6 11, Sharnae Lamar 3-7 8-8 14, Nijay Gaines 4-14 0-0 8, Markisha Wright 6-10 4-4 16, Friday Choul 0-2 0-0 0, Roichelle Marble 0-2 0-0 0, Tal Neilly 0-0 0-0 0, Chelcie Scott 0-0 0-0 0, Royonah Marble 1-1 0-0 3, Liz Bolten 0-0 0-0 0, Shareece Burrell 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 17-46 16-18 52.

Halftime: D.M. East 21, I.C. West 17.

3-point goals: I.C. West 3-12 (Disterhoft 0-1, Sturtz 1-2, Stumpff 0-1, Piper 1-2, Williams 1-1, Klein 0-5), D.M. East 2-11 (Butts 1-5, Lamar 0-3, Gaines 0-2, Roy.Marble 1-1).

Team fouls: I.C. West 16, D.M. East 17.

Fouled out: none.

Rebounds: I.C. West 31 (Stumpff 8), D.M. East 30 (Butts 10).

Assists: I.C. West 6 (Piper 3), D.M. East 8 (Lamar, Gaines 3).

Steals: I.C. West 4 (four with 1), D.M. East 9 (Wright 4).

Turnovers: I.C. West 17, D.M. East 8.