Clear Creek Amana holds on, will play for the 4A girls’ state basketball title

DES MOINES — Clear Creek Amana has earned a spot in the Class 4A girls’ basketball state championship game.

Some of the Clippers think they earned something more.

“Hopefully we get a hotel (Friday) night,” Ava Locklear said.

“Yeah, we want the hotel,” Bliss Beck added. “But Coach (P.J. Sweeney) is a pretty superstitious person.

“Either way, we’ll be ready to roll.”

Top-ranked CCA came out a-blazing to start the second half, built an 11-point lead, then hung on for dear life at the end. The Clippers held off No. 5 North Polk, 50-48, in a 4A semifinal Thursday night at Wells Fargo Arena.

“It was really nerve-wracking at the end,” Beck said. “We were a little lucky, and we were able to finish.”

CCA (25-0) faces No. 2 Waverly-Shell Rock (25-0) for the championship at 2:30 Saturday afternoon.

“I’ve dreamed of an opportunity like this,” Sweeney said. “In two days, we have the chance to play for a title. It’s awesome.”

Especially when you consider that the Clippers hadn’t won as much as a game at state before this year.

The Clippers seemed to be sitting pretty at 47-36 when Averie Lower nailed a 3-pointer with 6:20 left. But North Polk (23-3) more than made things interesting down the stretch.

A five-point possession (Fayth Sullivan made the first two of three free throws, missed the third, then an offensive rebound turned into a 3-pointer by Abby Tuttle) got the Comets within 47-44 with 2:46 left.

Then it was 47-46 after two free throws from Campbell Schulz, then 48-47 after the teams traded foul shots.

After the Clippers turned it over with 0:41 left, Tuttle misfired from deep and North Polk’s Becca Aagard grabbed the offensive rebound, only to miss a clear shot at a putback.

Lower converted a runout for a 50-47 CCA lead with 3.5 seconds left.

Tuttle was fouled at midcourt with 0:01.8 remaining. She made the first free throw, then missed the second intentionally. Lower secured the rebound and the Clippers celebrated.

“To have this opportunity, it’s so amazing,” Lower said. “I’m so happy. This is what we’ve been waiting for.”

Locklear led the Clippers with 17 points. Lower added 16.

The first half featured six ties and eight lead changes. North Polk took a 28-26 advantage into halftime.

CCA scored the first 10 points of the second half, with four different players doing the scoring. The Clippers led the rest of the way, but boy, did it get hairy at the end.

“We came into halftime and said, ‘Hey, we’re not done yet,” Beck said. “We needed to lock down our defense a little more.”

Schulz and Tuttle scored 15 points apiece for North Polk.

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Photos: Clear Creek Amana vs. North Polk in Class 4A girls’ state basketball semifinals

Clear Creek Amana 50, North Polk 48

Class 4A State Semifinal, at Des Moines

NORTH POLK (48): Campbell Schulz 4-9 6-6 15, Abby Tuttle 5-17 4-8 15, Jada Podey 3-6 0-0 9, Becca Aagard 0-4 0-2 0, Greta Dillinger 0-6 0-0 0, Ava Husak 0-0 0-0 0, Lauren Osborn 1-2 0-0 2, Fayth Sullivan 1-1 2-3 4, Kaylee Koudelka 1-4 0-0 3. Totals 15-49 12-19 48.

CLEAR CREEK AMANA (50): Kaylee Stratton 2-6 1-2 6, Averie Lower 5-10 3-3 16, Sam Schrage 0-0 0-2 0, Bliss Beck 2-5 1-2 5, Ava Locklear 7-15 3-4 17, Lena Evans 2-5 1-2 6, Kennedy Stratton 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 18-42 9-15 50.

North Polk 11 17 8 12 — 48

Clear Creek Amana 11 15 17 7 — 50

3-point goals: North Polk 6-20 (Schulz 1-4, Tuttle 1-6, Podey 3-6, Dillinger 0-3, Koudelka 1-1), CCA 5-10 (Kaylee Stratton 0-1, Lower 3-5, Locklear 0-2, Evans 1-2, Kennedy Stratton 0-1). Team fouls: North Polk 14, CCA 15. Fouled out: none. Rebounds: North Polk 38 (Aagard 8), CCA 27 (Beck 10). Assists: North Polk 6 (Schulz 3), CCA 9 (Beck 4). Steals: North Polk 6 (Schulz 3), CCA 8 (Beck 3). Turnovers: North Polk 11, CCA 12.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com