Short-handed Johnston holds off Saints

CEDAR RAPIDS - Johnston played with less than a full deck. Significantly less.

The Dragons still had enough quality cards to take this hand.

With three starters out for a variety of reasons, the Class 5A sixth-ranked Dragons held off Cedar Rapids Xavier, 51-45, in a non-conference girls' basketball game Saturday afternoon at Ron Thillen Gymnasium.

'With the lineup we had coming back, we anticipated that we would be as good as anybody in the state,” said Dragons Coach Chad Jilek. 'We had some girls that had to play more minutes than usual, and they played fantastic.”

Two-year starter Shayna Stubbs is out with an ACL tear. Emily Lehman was in Italy. Six-foot-4 post Taryn Knuth was home with the flu. The Dragons (2-0) still had enough.

After the Saints (1-1) scored the game's first basket, Johnston led the rest of the way, by as many as 13 points. Xavier got within 48-45 on Morgan Breitbach's drive with 27 seconds left, but the rally ended there.

'I saw a lot of kids play with more nerves than they should,” said Xavier Coach Tom Lilly. 'We have a lot of experience back, but our nerves caused us to rush our shots a little bit.”

The Saints shot a chilly 33 percent (17 of 51). That, plus a 38-28 rebounding margin, combined for the difference.

Erin Drahozal's baseline drive got the Saints even at 7-7, but Johnston scored the next 12 points and took a 24-16 lead into intermission.

The Dragons upped their advantage to 13 points on two occasions, the last at 39-26 with 1:49 left in the third quarter. Xavier got within 40-36 on Lizzy Bailey's 3-pointer with 6:33 to go, but Johnston answered the call, then closed it out despite making just 4 of 10 free throws in the final minute.

Johnston's Rachel Hinders led all scorers with 20 points. Elle Brown added 13.

Breitbach paced the Saints with 13 points, Bailey added 11. The pair combined for 19 second-half points.

'We're trying to find pieces to the puzzle. I thought we had a rotation at the end that worked pretty well,” Lilly said. 'It's a process, a journey. It's a marathon, not a sprint.”

McKenna Andersen, who missed last season with a torn ACL, posted eight points and eight boards for the Saints.

Xavier opens Mississippi Valley Conference play Tuesday at home against Cedar Falls.

JOHNSTON 51, CEDAR RAPIDS XAVIER 45

At C.R. Xavier

JOHNSTON (51): Paige Sieren 0-6 0-1 0, Elle Brown 2-5 8-10 13, Julia Beswick 2-3 1-2 5, Jennah Johnson 2-3 3-6 7, Rachel Hinders 8-15 4-8 20, Brooke Wilmes 0-0 0-0 0, Haylee Towers 2-5 2-3 6. Totals 16-37 18-30 51.

C.R. XAVIER (45): Lizzy Bailey 3-11 3-5 11, McKenna Andersen 4-9 0-0 8, Morgan Breitbach 5-9 3-4 13, Amelia Ivester 1-5 0-0 2, Meghan Joens 2-6 0-1 4, Claire Christianson 0-3 0-0 0, Alexandra Noonan 0-1 0-0 0, Jennifer Dickes 0-1 2-2 2, Madison Nelson 0-1 0-0 0, Erin Drahozal 2-4 0-0 5, Brylee Bastian 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 17-51 8-12 45.

Halftime: Johnston 24, Xavier 16. 3-point goals: Johnston 1-7 (Sieren 0-1, Brown 1-3, Hinders 0-1, Towers 0-2), Xavier 3-15 (Bailey 2-6, Andersen 0-4, Breitbach 0-1, Dickes 0-1, Drahozal 1-2, Bastian 0-1). Team fouls: Johnston 14, Xavier 22. Fouled out: Breitbach. Rebounds: Johnston 38 (Johnson 13), Xavier 28 (Andersen 8). Assists: Johnston 9 (Towers 3), Xavier 5 (Noonan 2). Steals: Johnston 4 (Beswick 2), Xavier 9 (Dickes 3). Turnovers: Johnston 19, Xavier 15.

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