Saints snuff a rally, hang on to beat Pella

DES MOINES — The Xavier Saints didn't give up a 19-point lead last night.

Almost, but not quite.

'We tried. It wasn't for lack of effort,' Coach Ryan Luehrsmann said with a laugh after what turned out to be an exhilarating 65-61 win over Pella in the Class 3A state basketball tournament quarterfinals.

When an absolutely chaotic fourth quarter was finally over, this was Xavier's first state tourney victory. That's the most important thing.

The Saints play defending champ Dubuque Wahlert in an 8:15 p.m. semifinal Thursday at Wells Fargo Arena.

It was just the way everything got to that point that was a little peculiar. And a lot entertaining.

Xavier (17-8) was blowing Pella (21-3) out of the water midway through the third quarter with a 40-21 lead. But all of a sudden it got tight.

Turnovers led to points, which led to more turnovers and more Pella points.

'You've got to give them credit,' Luehrsmann said. 'The style they play, it's frenetic, it's fast paced, it's 94 feet of chaos. I just knew they had a run in them. They're too talented.'

The Dutch scored 16 of the final 20 points in the third quarter to close within five points. Their surge continued in the fourth, pulling within one twice, including with two minutes left.

But Xavier persevered, getting a couple of stops (including Calvin Winker drawing a huge charge with 41.3 seconds remaining) and making clutch free throws.

'It was tough going back and forth,' said Winker, who finished with 15 points. 'We knew they were going to come back and fight, and that's what they did. We were lucky enough to hold them off.'

How good was Xavier's Adam McDermott? The unflappable senior wing scored 24 points and pulled down eight rebounds, but his work at the line was most important and impressive.

He hit 15 of 16 free throws, showing a knack for getting fouled exactly when his team needed it most.

'I think it was just a great team effort,' the soft-spoken McDermott said. 'We knew we had to get to the free-throw line. That's what we did. We knocked down our free throws. On offense, we needed to stay calm, and at times we did that. We got a little rushed in the third quarter but came back and got the win.

'We handled things with poise.'

Pella shot 62.1 percent from the field in the second half but still saw its 19-game win streak snapped.

Xavier has now won nine straight.

Isaac Naaktgeboren led the Dutch with 19 points.