Western Dubuque gets its rematch

DES MOINES — It's a Harlan-Western Dubuque rematch. It's 1 vs. 2.

And it's Saturday night.

'We wouldn't want it any other way,' said Western Dubuque's Rose Simon-Ressler.

The second-rated Bobcats led for the final 30 minutes and were able to grind out a 47-38 victory over No. 6 Sioux City Heelan in a Class 4A semifinal at the girls' state basketball tournament Thursday night at Wells Fargo Arena.

'To hold Heelan to 38 points — a team that averages (66 points per game) — defensively, we did a great job tonight,' said Bobcats Coach Amy Ostwinkle.

The triumph sets up a championship-game rematch for the Bobcats (25-0) with No. 1 Harlan (25-0), which conquered No. 4 Carlisle, 69-43, Thursday for its 51st straight win.

Harlan edged Western Dubuque for the title last year, 55-51.

'We feel like we have some unfinished business,' said junior post Megan Maahs, who led all scorers with 15 points. 'We played like a team on defense tonight. We played like a team on offense. And we came out with a win.'

The Bobcats spotted Heelan (22-4) the game's first basket, but scored the next 11 points, and though the game got close on occasion, it never felt that Western Dubuque lost control.

Heelan's Megan Todd banked in a scooping shot to bring the Crusaders within 39-36 with 2:11 to go. But Western Dubuque made 8 of 10 free throws — and made a series of defensive stops — to extend the margin to 47-36.

Western Dubuque enjoyed a 33-18 rebounding advantage. That helped offset 19 turnovers (Heelan committed only nine).

'We told them at practice really to go after the boards, and they did,' Ostwinkle said.

Morgan Pitz added 10 points. The sophomore guard came into the game shooting 48.8 percent from the free throw line, but sank 6 of 9 Thursday, and most of those were late.

Simon-Ressler posted nine points and 10 rebounds. Maahs added eight boards.

Heelan took 17 more shots than the Bobcats, but couldn't convert. The Crusaders shot 33 percent (16 of 48) from the field, including 1 of 17 from long range.

Grace Hanno led Heelan with 10 points. Todd added nine.

WESTERN DUBUQUE 47, SIOUX CITY HEELAN 38 (Class 4A State Semifinal)

At Des Moines

WESTERN DUBUQUE (47): Mikaela Armstrong 2-2 2-2 6, Maddy Clark 0-1 0-0 0, Morgan Pitz 2-5 6-9 10, Rose Simon-Ressler 3-7 3-4 9, Megan Maahs 7-10 0-0 15, Bailey Ploessl 0-1 3-4 4, Quinn Herbst 1-3 0-0 2, Jessica Cartee 1-2 0-2 2. Totals 16-31 14-21 47.

SIOUX CITY HEELAN (38): Megan Todd 3-8 3-6 9, Tristan Beaulieu 3-7 2-2 8, Taylor Ferguson 0-2 0-0 0, Grace Hanno 5-9 0-0 10, Taylor Beaulieu 3-6 0-0 7, Carlie Long 1-7 0-2 2, McKenzie Pratt 0-0 0-0 0, Rhea Greer 0-0 0-0 0, Sam McCabe 0-0 0-0 0, Lexie Stolen 0-3 0-0 0, MacKinsey Higley 0-1 0-0 0, Jessica Brown 0-3 0-0 0, Megan Beaulieu 0-0 0-0 0, Kate Larson 0-1 0-0 0, Kierrah Quincy 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 16-48 5-10 38.

Halftime: Western Dubuque 21, Heelan 14. 3-point goals: Western Dubuque 1-5 (Clark 0-1, Pitz 0-1, Maahs 1-2, Ploessl 0-1), Heelan 1-17 (Todd 0-2, Ferguson 0-1, Tay.Beaulieu 1-3, Long 0-5, Stolen 0-1, Higley 0-1, Brown 0-3, Larson 0-1). Team fouls: Western Dubuque 12, Heelan 20. Fouled out: Tris.Beaulieu. Rebounds: Western Dubuque 33 (Simon-Ressler 10), Heelan 18 (Hanno 4). Assists: Western Dubuque 6 (Simon-Ressler 3), Heelan 6 (Todd 3). Steals: Western Dubuque 3 (three with 1), Heelan 10 (Todd 3). Turnovers: Western Dubuque 19, Heelan 9.

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