Xavier tops Heelan in 1-vs.-2 showdown; Tom Lilly wins No. 600

CEDAR RAPIDS — After taking a postgame squirt-bottle soaking, Tom Lilly came clean.

“I’ve got to be honest. This did cross my mind at the end of last year,” he said. “(Former Cedar Rapids Washington Coach) Frank Howell wrote me a story about a coach that walked away at 495 wins.

“He said, ‘Why would you walk away when you’re so close?’”

So Lilly stayed. And Saturday night, he joined a fairly exclusive club.

Kyla Mason scored 19 points, and Class 4A second-ranked Cedar Rapids Xavier held off No. 1 Sioux City Heelan, 62-54, Saturday night at Johnson Hall.

Lilly became the 17th Iowa girls’ basketball coach to cross the 600-win threshold. He is 600-275 in 38 years, including 411-173 in 25 seasons at Xavier.

“We’re all really happy,” Mason said. “We knew this was going to be a tough game. We gave it our all and played basketball the way we know how.”

In addition to getting Lilly to a milestone, the Saints (2-0) topped Heelan for the second time in nine months. They prevailed in the 4A championship, 54-40, in March.

This has a bit of a title-game vibe in the locker room.

“It was fun,” Lexi Turner said. “We were squirting him with water bottles.”

Xavier took control of this one in the first quarter. Trailing 5-4, the Saints assembled a 14-2 run to take an 11-point lead.

Heelan (0-1) got within 18-13 by the end of the first quarter, but the Saints scored the first seven points of the second period and retained control the rest of the way.

The largest margin was 47-31, on a basket by Taylor Rexroth late in the third quarter. From there, it was a matter of weathering a Crusaders storm.

“We were holding on for dear life,” Lilly said. “Heelan went into that scramble press. You’re not going to believe this, but we hadn’t practiced against it.”

The Crusaders got within 57-52 and 59-54 in the final 2 minutes, but Turner and Libby Fandel combined to make 5 of 6 free throws to lock it up.

Turner and Fandel chipped in with 13 points apiece, with the latter converting 11 of 12 free throws. Emma Arnold didn’t score, but provided six assists.

Plus, Lilly said, “We found a couple of kids off the bench that played with poise.”

Kenley Meis paced Heelan with 19 points. Brooklyn Stanley added 13.

Cedar Rapids Xavier 62, Sioux City Heelan 54

At Johnson Hall

C.R. XAVIER (62): Emma Arnold 0-3 0-0 0, Libby Fandel 4-12 4-6 13, Sydney Huber 3-6 0-0 7, Kyla Mason 9-14 0-0 19, Lexi Turner 1-4 11-12 13, Madden Wilson 1-4 0-1 2, Carly Jonker 0-1 0-0 0, Taylor Rexroth 1-1 0-0 2, Reese Komenda 0-0 0-0 0, Aaliyah Beier 2-6 1-2 6. Totals 21-51 16-21 62.

SIOUX CITY HEELAN (54): Maddie Demke 2-6 0-1 4, Lauryn Peck 1-7 2-2 4, Brooklyn Stanley 5-10 4-5 14, Kenley Meis 5-15 9-10 19, Jada Newberg 3-8 0-1 8, Addison Kuehl 1-4 0-0 2, Lauren LaFleur 0-1 0-0 0, Abby Lee 1-2 1-2 3. Totals 18-53 16-21 54.

C.R. Xavier 18 13 16 15 — 62

Sioux City Heelan 13 7 14 20 — 54

3-point goals: Xavier 4-14 (Arnold 0-2, Fandel 1-4, Huber 1-2, Mason 1-1, Beier 1-5), Heelan 2-19 (Demke 0-3, Kuehl 0-2, Peck 0-5, Stanley 0-1, Meis 0-3, Newberg 2-5). Team fouls: Xavier 23, Heelan 22. Fouled out: Huber, Demke. Rebounds: Xavier 29 (Fandel, Mason 6), Heelan 26 (Meis 6). Assists: Xavier 17 (Arnold 6), Heelan 5 (five with 1). Steals: Xavier 9 (Fandel 3), Heelan 9 (Stanley 3). Turnovers: Xavier 15, Heelan 20.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com