No. 2 CPU survives bid by stubborn Mid-Prairie

DES MOINES — The idea was to kill clock, maybe take a foul and hit a couple free throws.

But Arika Wooldridge saw an open lane.

'It she's going, she's going,' said her younger sister, Allison Wooldridge. 'One she gets going, not too many people can stop her. I'd get out of her way.'

The elder Wooldridge scored the final six points for second-ranked Center Point-Urbana, including that key layup in the final minute, and the Stormin' Pointers survived a strong upset bid by No. 14 Mid-Prairie, 48-43, in a Class 3A quarterfinal at the girls' state basketball tournament Tuesday afternoon at Wells Fargo Arena.

CPU (24-1) held Mid-Prairie about 10 1/2 minutes without a field goal, overcoming a seven-point second-quarter deficit.

'The second half, we did a better job on defense, minimizing what they were trying to do,' said CPU Coach Philip Klett. 'We settled down a little.

'We'll take it, I guess.'

Mid-Prairie retired at 16-9, but the Golden Hawks were a royal pain the whole way.

'We showed we could play with them, and they're a great team,' said Mid-Prairie's Alex Rath. 'The second half, though, the shots weren't falling like we wanted.'

Down 26-19 late in the third quarter, CPU got a pair of baskets before the intermission from LaMia Sisk to get within three, then held the Golden Hawks without a basket throughout the third quarter and took a 35-31 lead. The Stormin' Pointers extended it to 42-34 on Allison Wooldridge's basket with 5:44 left.

Three times, Mid-Prairie got within three points. At 44-41 with less than a minute left, Arika Wooldridge had the ball on the right wing, about 25 feet from the hoop.

That's not a bad situation; Wooldridge shoots better than 80 percent from the free-throw line. But she had a better idea.

'Coach said if we had an open lane, go ahead and take the layup,' she said. 'I saw it, and went for it.'

Rath's steal and layup gave Mid-Prairie a glimmer of hope at 46-43 with 8 seconds left, then Arika Wooldridge iced it for good with two free throws. The Winona State recruit produced 18 points and 11 rebounds to lead everybody.

Payton Hasleiet added 10 points; Allison Wooldridge registered nine points and nine boards.

Rath led Mid-Prairie with 17 points. Ali Butters scored 12.

'We felt we were well-prepared. We had a great game plan and we executed it,' said Mid-Prairie Coach Stephen Bender. 'Give them credit. They cranked up the defense. We had some turnovers and missed some layups.'

CENTER POINT-URBANA 48, MID-PRAIRIE 43 (Class 3A State Quarterfinal)

At Des Moines

MID-PRAIRIE (43): Alex Rath 6-9 3-7 17, Emily Cayton 0-3 1-2 1, Ali Butters 4-11 4-6 12, Ireland Hostetler 3-6 0-2 6, Addison Rath 1-6 2-2 4, Anna Vilovchik 0-0 0-0 0, Ally Wertz 1-5 0-0 3, Shae Becker 0-0 0-0 0, Delaney Smith 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 15-40 10-19 43.

CENTER POINT-URBANA (48): Allison Wooldridge 4-8 0-2 9, Payton Hasleiet 2-6 4-4 10, LaMia Sisk 3-8 0-0 6, Olivia Brecht 2-9 0-0 5, Arika Wooldridge 6-11 6-6 18, Madie Wilson 0-0 0-0 0, Sydney Boevers 0-5 0-0 0, Claire Holtz 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 17-48 10-12 48.

Halftime: Mid-Prairie 26, CPU 23. 3-point goals: Mid-Prairie 3-10 (Al.Rath 2-4, Butters 0-1, Wertz 1-5), CPU 4-17 (Al.Wooldridge 1-2, Hasleiet 2-4, Sisk 0-2, Brecht 1-6, Boevers 0-3). Team fouls: Mid-Prairie 12, CPU 14. Fouled out: none. Rebounds: Mid-Prairie 29 (Hostetler 7), CPU 34 (Ar.Wooldridge 11). Assists: Mid-Prairie 10 (Cayton 5), CPU 5 (Sisk, Ar.Wooldridge 2). Steals: Mid-Prairie 6 (Cayton 5), CPU 5 (Al.Wooldridge, Ar.Wooldridge 2). Turnovers: Mid-Prairie 17, CPU 12.

l Comments: (319) 368-8857; jeff.linder@thegazette.com