Audi Crooks and Bishop Garrigan are back in the state tournament, maybe better than ever.
Crooks, the 6-foot-3 junior being recruited by major college programs across the country, poured in 32 points as Bishop Garrigan raced past previously unbeaten Burlington Notre Dame 77-42 and into the Class 1A semifinals for the third straight year.
Crooks scored mainly on lob passes from her teammates in making 15-of-18 shots. And two of those misses didn’t matter because she grabbed the rebound and went right back up to score. College coaches have been impressed by how deftly she catches the ball and that was apparent when she easily snared a long pass from point guard Molly Joyce and banked in a layup.
If that’s not enough, she got the ball at the free throw at the start of the second quarter and without hesitating drove aggressively to the basket for yet another layup.
Joyce also was a big factor, scoring 25 points to go with six assists, five rebounds and seven steals. Abbie Capesius added 12 points and eight rebounds for the second-seeded Golden Bears, who shot 55 percent and will take a 23-3 record into the semifinals at 3:15 p.m. Friday.
Win that one and Bishop Garrigan would be in the championship game for the third straight year. The Golden Bears lost to Newell-Fonda in their two previous appearances. Top-seeded Newell-Fonda is in the semifinals of the other bracket.
Seventh-seeded Notre Dame (24-1) kept pace for a while – until Bishop Garrigan closed the first half with a 20-7 run to go up 38-20. Crooks had 11 at halftime, then took over in the third quarter. She scored 14 of the Golden Bears’ 17 points in the quarter on 7-for-8 shooting, with a putback on the one she missed.
Abby Korschgen led Notre Dame with 11 points and five rebounds. Megan Harrell had 10 points and five rebounds, while sophomore Lauren Krieger scored eight for the Nikes, who won the state title in 2014 and made it back to the tournament for the first time since 2017.
Bishop Garrigan has won 20 straight since a 3-3 start against a rigorous schedule that included games with Class 5A Iowa City West, 3A tournament semifinalist West Lyon and Newell-Fonda, which beat the Golden Bears 74-70.