Ava Locklear’s near triple-double combined with her teammate’s crisp play to propel Clear Creek-Amana into the Class 4A semifinals.
Locklear put up 14 points, 17 rebounds and nine assists and three teammates also scored in double figures as the top-seeded and unbeaten Clippers rolled past Gilbert 68-30 to start the state tournament’s 4A bracket.
Locklear made seven of her 13 shots and tacked on five steals and three blocks to complete her stat-sheet stuffing performance. Averie Lower went 5-for-8 from 3-point range in scoring 17 points, Bliss Beck scored 16 on 8-for-11 shooting and Sam Schrage shot 6-for-7 in scoring 12 points.
The Clippers shared the ball with sharp passing and recorded assists on 19 of their 29 field goals, many of them layups. They shot 54.7 percent from field and piled up a 44-20 edge in points in the paint.
Clear Creek-Amana also came up with 15 steals and outrebounded Gilbert 41-23, with Lower collecting seven rebounds and Beck pulling down five.
Mia Kautman led eighth-seeded Gilbert with 11 points and Ella Henningsen scored seven for the Tigers, who earned the school’s sixth state tournament trip by upsetting sixth-ranked Mason City in the regional semifinals and knocking off perennial contender Cedar Rapids Xavier in the finals.
It took Clear Creek-Amana almost 2 minutes to score, but once that shot fell, the points came in bunches. The Clippers finished the first quarter with a 16-4 run for a 22-9 lead and put together a 10-2 run – all five baskets were layups – en route to a 41-20 halftime lead.
Ahead 54-28 in the fourth quarter, Clear Creek-Amana capped its victory by finishing with a 14-2 burst. The Clippers, already with a school-record victory total, will take a 24-0 record into a semifinal game at 5 p.m. Thursday.
Gilbert started four juniors and a freshman so the Tigers will be in a good position to make another state tournament bid next season. They finished with a 15-10 record.
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