Cedar Rapids Xavier captures the Class 4A girls’ state basketball championship

DES MOINES — Who’s it going to be?

Who knows?

And that’s the beauty of this year’s Xavier Saints. This year’s state-champion Xavier Saints.

Lexi Beier hit back-to-back 3-pointers to put fifth-ranked Cedar Rapids Xavier ahead for good, Riley Jonker played the game of her life, and the Saints’ press riddled No. 3 Sioux City Heelan at the end of a 54-40 victory in the Class 4A girls’ state basketball final Saturday afternoon at Wells Fargo Arena.

“This has been a dream for all of us,” Xavier junior Kyla Mason said. “To be wearing this pink (championship) T-shirt, I’m overjoyed.

“It was a whirlwind, and everybody kept pushing.”

The Saints (20-6) trailed 29-20 early in the third quarter, then outscored Heelan (23-3) by a 34-11 count the rest of the way. That included a 21-4 push to close the game.

Yeah, it was a whirlwind all right. As a severe March storm bore down on Central Iowa, the Saints ran the Crusaders dizzy indoors.

The championship was Xavier’s fifth. The Saints reigned in 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2013.

“Our third decade of girls basketball at Xavier, and we finally got one in that third decade,” said Saints Coach Tom Lilly, who will surpass the 600-win career mark early next season.

» Photos: Cedar Rapids Xavier vs. Sioux City Heelan in 4A championship game

Xavier freshman Libby Fandel was named the 4A all-tournament captain. In three games this week, she posted 39 points, 21 rebounds, 14 assists and eight steals.

“Things just kind of came into place. This does not feel real at all,” said Fandel, who was joined on the all-tournament team by Mason, as well as Heelan’s Jada Newberg and Brooklyn Stanley, Glenwood’s Abby Hughes and Dallas Center-Grimes’ Emma Miner.

Fandel didn’t take a shot in the first half, and Mason was 0-for-1. The Saints were stymied by Heelan’s extended 1-3-1 trapping zone and faced a 24-17 deficit.

“The 20-minute halftime helped a lot,” said Lilly, who revised the Saints’ press. And that turned out to be a winning move.

Down 29-20, the Saints made their first rush, scoring seven in a row to get back in it. Mary Kate Moeder’s steal and 3-pointers gave the Saints a brief 32-30 lead, but Heelan’s Jada Newberg answered, and it was all square at 33-all entering the fourth period.

Newberg started the final quarter with a steal and three-point play, but the rest of the game was all Saints.

After Fandel got another steal and turned it into a baseline jumper, Beier drilled consecutive 3-pointers to put Xavier in front for good, 41-36.

“I hadn’t put up a lot of shots this week, but I was still feeling it,” Beier said. “The basket was looking really good to me.”

After Beier’s back-to-back bombs, Jonker scored Xavier’s next six points, all on the block.

Jonker led the Saints with 13 points.

“I was able to capitalize on a mismatch down there,” she said. “When I got the ball down there, I was successful.”

She shook her head.

“I transferred to Xavier (from Linn-Mar) for volleyball, and I’m wearing this T-shirt because of basketball. It’s the greatest day of my life.”

Lilly said, “They had a 5-foot-3 kid at the back of their 1-3-1. Sometimes when you recognize a mismatch like that, you force it. But Riley made some dandy shots — twisty, turny, up, under and around.”

Jonker’s fourth-quarter spree gave Xavier a 47-40 lead, then the Saints kept motoring. The Saints were 7 of 10 from the field in the fourth quarter

Moeder, who missed her junior season with a torn ACL, concluded an effective week with 11 points, hitting 3 of 4 shots from long range.

Beier scored 10 points, Fandel nine, Mason eight.

And when the Saints spread the wealth like that, they’re extremely difficult to beat. They ended the season with a seven-game win streak.

So who was it going to be? Who was going to carry this team?

As noted early in the season, it was Hero By Committee.

The reward? T-shirts, medals, roses.

“I really didn’t know if I’d live to see this day,” Beier said. “I knew we had a chance, and we did it.”

Cedar Rapids Xavier 54, Sioux City Heelan 40

Class 4A State Final, at Des Moines

C.R. XAVIER (54): Maya Karl 1-4 0-2 2, Libby Fandel 4-7 0-0 9, Lexi Beier 3-6 1-2 10, Maddie Steger 0-3 0-0 0, Mary Kate Moeder 3-7 2-3 11, Emma Arnold 0-1 1-2 1, Riley Jonker 4-7 5-6 13, Sydney Huber 0-0 0-0 0, Ava Turner 0-0 0-0 0, Ali Schuchmann 0-0 0-0 0, Kyla Mason 2-6 4-5 8, Taylor Rexroth 0-0 0-0 0, Lexi Turner 0-4 0-0 0, Aaliyah Beier 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 17-45 13-20 54.

SIOUX CITY HEELAN (40): Maddie Demker 1-1 2-2 4, Lauryn Peck 0-6 1-2 1, Brooklyn Stanley 2-9 0-0 4, Joslyn Verzal 3-5 0-0 8, Addison Kuehl 0-1 0-0 0, Payton Schermerhorn 0-1 0-0 0, Jada Newberg 5-7 1-1 13, Sophia Kuntz 0-0 0-0 0, Lauren LaFleur 0-1 0-0 0, Kiki Demke 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 15-41 5-8 40.

C.R. Xavier 11 6 16 21 — 54

Sioux City Heelan 11 13 9 7 — 40

3-point goals: Xavier 7-15 (Fandel 1-3, Beier 3-6, Steger 0-1, Moeder 3-4, Turner 0-1), Heelan 5-13 (Peck 0-3, Meis 1-3, Verzal 2-3, Schermerhorn 0-1, Newberg 2-3). Team fouls: Xavier 11, Heelan 13. Fouled out: none. Rebounds: Xavier 34 (Fandel 7), Heelan 25 (Meis 8). Assists: Xavier 12 (Moeder, Arnold 3), Heelan 7 (Stanley 2). Steals: Xavier 9 (Beier 4), Heelan 13 (Stanley 5). Turnovers: Xavier 16, Heelan 19.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com