Coming into this year’s event, Clear Creek-Amana had never won a state tournament game.
Now the Clippers will be playing for a state championship.
Ava Locklear scored 17 points, Averie Lower added 16 and top-seeded Clear Creek-Amana survived a fourth quarter drought to beat North Polk 50-48 for a berth in the Class 4A title game. The Clippers will take a 25-0 record into the finale, a perfect mark that fifth-seeded North Polk threatened in the final minutes.
Clear Creek-Amana, 0-2 in state tourney play before this year, appeared well on the way to a victory when Lower curled around a screen and hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key for a 47-36 lead with 6:20 left. But the Clippers went nearly 5 minutes before they scored again and North Polk inched its way back into it.
Jada Podey started the comeback with a 3-pointer and Fayth Sullivan sank two free throws before missing the third in her three-shot opportunity. But North Polk’s Abby Tuttle ran down the rebound and eventually hit a 3 from the top of the key, cutting the lead to 47-44 with 2:47 to play.
Two free throws by freshman Campbell Schulz pulled the Comets to within a point and after each team made a free throw, the Comets got the ball on a turnover with 41.3 seconds remaining. Tuttle misfired from deep and North Polk’s Becca Aagard grabbed rebound, only to miss a clear shot at a putback.
Bliss Beck rebounded for the Clippers, triggering a fast break that Lower finished with a layup for a 50-47 lead with 3.4 seconds left. Tuttle was fouled with 1.8 seconds on the clock and made the first free throw. She had to intentionally miss the second for the Comets to have any chance, Lower latched onto the rebound and time ran out.
The heartbreak was similar to what happened to North Polk in last year’s championship game. The Comets missed a close-in shot at the end of regulation and Dallas Center-Grimes won it in overtime.
Locklear, who fell one assist short of a triple-double in a quarterfinal victory over Gilbert, added seven rebounds and an assist to her scoring in this one. Lower, a promising sophomore, also grabbed seven rebounds to go with an assist, a block and a steal. Beck finished with 10 rebounds, five points, four assists, two blocks and three steals.
Schulz and Tuttle led North Polk with 15 points each and Podey scored nine on 3-or-6 3-point shooting. Aagard did not score but had eight rebounds, three blocks and a steal for the Comets, who finished 23-3.