Western Dubuque pulls an upset

DES MOINES -- Western Dubuque clung to the lead, every possession an adventure.

The Bobcats turned it over a lot, 26 times in all -- and that doesn't count numerous close calls. But when they held tight, they usually converted. And that was enough to pull off a major upset at the girls' state basketball tournament.

Eighth-ranked Western Dubuque shot 65.6 percent from the floor and held off No. 2 Sioux City Heelan, 53-44, in a Class 4A quarterfinal Wednesday afternoon at Wells Fargo Arena.

"We knew it was going to be ours; we were 100-percent confident," Zoey Weber said. "Their press is really aggressive, but it was not going to get the best of us."

Western Dubuque (22-2) is a qualifier for the first time since 1987, when the Bobcats won it all. The next step comes at 8:30 Thursday night, against No. 7 Ballard.

The Bombers (21-4) ended Davenport Assumption's quest for a fourth straight title, 55-45.

A girls' basketball blueblood (it was in the state field for the seventh time in eight years), Heelan retired at 20-4.

"It's obvious the first half kind of killed us," said Crusaders Coach Darron Koolstra. "Their shooting percentage was pretty darn good. But when you shoot around the basket, it's going to to fall in."

Forward Rose Simon-Ressler scored 21 points and Megan Maahs added 16 points and 10 rebounds. When the Bobcats beat the press (or at least survived it), that duo made them pay to the tune of 17 of 25 from the floor.

"Our guards got us the ball, and when they did, we were going to score," Maahs said.

On the other hand ..."I feel our defense won the game for us," she added.

Heelan averaged 71 points per game, but suffered through a 29-percent shooting effort Wednesday.

"We knew they wanted to score, score, score." Simon-Ressler said.

Western Dubuque made 13 of 17 shots in the first half, building a 13-point advantage and taking a 30-19 lead into the locker room.

Heelan sprinted back to get even at 34-all. Then Simon-Ressler scored the last two buckets of the third quarter, and Western Dubuque carried a 38-34 edge into the final period.

Down 42-41, the Crusaders had two opportunities to take the lead. Both times, they were denied. Then the Bobcats closed with an 11-3 breakaway.

Simon-Ressler converted on offensive rebound into a basket with 1:45 left to make it 44-41, then Maahs added a bucket a half-minute later.

Kylee Hickman's 3-pointer got the Crusaders within 47-44, but the rally died there, the Bobcats scoring the final six points.

"The girls were really excited for this one," said Western Dubuque Coach Amy Ostwinkle. "It didn't matter who they played. They believed in themselves. It didn't matter who was the 2 seed or 7 seed. They were going to do whatever it took to win."

Molly Lembedezer added 10 points for the Bobcats. Jenna Bork paced Heelan with 15.

WESTERN DUBUQUE 53, SIOUX CITY HEELAN 44

Class 4A Quarterfinal, at Wells Fargo Arena

WESTERN DUBUQUE (53): Mikaela Armstrong 0-2 0-0 0, Molly Lembedezer 3-3 3-5 10, Zoey Weber 1-2 3-3 5, Rose Simon-Ressler 9-14 3-5 21, Megan Maahs 8-11 0-0 16, Jenny Brehm 0-0 0-0 0, Maddy Clark 0-0 1-1 1, Morgan Pitz 0-0 0-1 0, Jessica Cartee 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-32 10-15 53.

SIOUX CITY HEELAN (44): Megan Todd 3-4 0-0 6, Kylee Hickman 1-4 0-0 3, Jenna Bork 5-15 6-8 18, Tristan Beaulieu 2-10 3-4 7, Grace Hanno 1-4 0-0 2, McKenzie Pratt 0-0 0-0 0, Taylor Ferguson 0-1 0-0 0, Jessica Brown 0-2 0-0 0, Bailey Heaton 2-8 2-2 8, Taylor Beaulieu 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 14-49 11-14 44.

Halftime: Western Dubuque 30, Heelan 19. 3-point goals: Western Dubuque 1-2 (Lembedezer 1-1, Simon-Ressler 0-1), Heelan 5-19 (Hickman 1-4, Bork 2-11, Brown 0-1, Heaton 2-3). Team fouls: Western Dubuque 13, Heelan 19. Fouled out: Tr.Beaulieu. Rebounds: Western Dubuque 28 (Maahs 10), Heelan 23 (Bork 8). Assists: Western Dubuque 15 (Weber 4), Heelan 5 (Hickman 4). Steals: Western Dubuque 7 (Maahs, Pitz 2), Heelan 15 (Bork 6). Turnovers: Western Dubuque 26, Heelan 17.