Jaliea Havel the star in Cedar Rapids Washington’s 36-33 win over Linn-Mar

MARION — Jaliea Havel brought her girls back into the game, so it seemed perfectly appropriate that she'd win it for them, too.

The junior point guard's go-ahead bucket underneath with 21 seconds left helped lift Cedar Rapids Washington past Linn-Mar, 36-33, Tuesday night at Linn-Mar.

The Class 5A No. 11-ranked Warriors improved to 6-0, surviving a game in which they didn't shoot it well, turned it over too much and got only nine points from star Hannah Stuelke. It was the University of Iowa commit's deft pass down low to a cutting Havel that set up the winning points, however.

Linn-Mar (2-2) missed a shot in the final 10 seconds to win it. Two Aeri Thomas free throws with under a second left provided the final margin.

'Hannah got the ball, and I knew they were going to collapse on her,' Havel said. 'We made eye contact, and I knew right then I should cut. She passed right there, and I scored that layup. It was a really big play from Hannah and me at the same time. I'm glad she kept her eyes open.'

Havel had a game-high 12 points off the bench for Wash, the only player on either team to score in double figures. Her own personal seven-point run late in the third quarter brought the Warriors from seven down, a driving hoop at the third-quarter buzzer making it 27-all.

'My coaches always say 'You've got that little spark in you,'' Havel said. 'Even if I'm not starting the game, even if I'm not doing my best, I know I've got to pump my team up. Being a point guard, you've got to be a leader. You've got to keep your team up, even when you're down by seven or 10 (points), even more. I knew that we could do it, I knew that this was our game. I knew I wanted to win, and I knew my team wanted to win. So I just tried to provide us something to get us there.'

Marissa Miller and Kaitlyn Brunson had eight points apiece for Linn-Mar. The Lions made just 13 of 42 shots from the field, including 4 of 20 from 3-point land.

Washington was even worse, going 13 of 48 from the field and 3 of 17 from beyond the arc. Yet the Warriors found a way.

AT LINN-MAR

C.R. WASHINGTON (36): Aeri Thomas 1-6 2-2 5, Hannah Stuelke 3-10 3-6 9, Sydney Mitvalsky 2-12 0-0 5, Sydney Engledow 0-5 0-0 0, Lucci O'Donnell 1-4 0-0 2, Deja Redmond 1-3 0-0 3, Keara Powers 0-0 0-0 0, Jaliea Havel 5-6 2-5 12, Jocelyn Doyle 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 13-48 7-13 36.

LINN-MAR (33): Marissa Miller 3-3 0-0 8, Keegan Krejca 2-5 2-2 6, Kaitlyn Brunson 3-13 1-2 8, Caelynn Obleton 3-10 0-0 6, Emma Casebolt 0-4 0-0 0, Hallie Peak 0-1 0-0 0, Zoe Kennedy 1-4 0-0 3, Abby Thoms 0-1 0-2 0, Sofia Bush 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 13-42 3-6 33.

Halftime – Linn-Mar 19, C.R. Washington 18. 3-point goals – C.R. Washington 3-17 (Thomas 1-3, Stuelke 0-1, Mitvalsky 1-6, Engledow 0-2, O'Donnell 0-2, Redmond 1-1, Doyle 0-2), Linn-Mar 4-20 (Miller 2-2, Brunson 1-7, Obleton 0-5, Casebolt 0-2, Peak 0-1, Kennedy 1-3). Rebounds – C.R. Washington 37 (Stuelke 13), Linn-Mar 32 (Kennedy 11). Total fouls – C.R. Washington 6, Linn-Mar 16. Fouled out – None. Turnovers – C.R. Washington 16, Linn-Mar 17.

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