Given another chance against Dallas Center-Grimes, North Polk found a way to win it.
North Polk shut off the Mustangs’ perimeter shooting in the second half, dominated play around the basket and rallied for a 48-42 victory that sends the fifth-seeded Comets to the Class 4A semifinals.
Becca Aagard and Abby Tuttle each scored 13 points and Aagard grabbed nine rebounds to lead the Comets, who lost to Dallas Center-Grimes in overtime in last year’s state championship game and fell to the Mustangs again in this season’s opener.
It looked for a while that the Mustangs would have their way again until North Polk strung together 10 straight points in the third quarter, all on putbacks or layups, to erase a 32-24 DC-G lead.
When freshman Campbell Schulz completed the run with a baseline drive, North Polk led 34-33 and fell behind only once after that. The Mustangs inched ahead 38-37 when Vanessa Bickford buried a 3-pointer from well behind the top of the key with 4:30 left.
The Comets answered quickly, Kaylee Koudelka hitting a 3 from the left corner 11 seconds later and Tuttle, a junior who has committed to Northern Iowa, banking in a driving shot to put North Polk back on top at 42-38
After the Comets forced a shot clock violation, Aagard followed up a miss to make it 44-38 and they did the rest with free throws and defense, sinking 4-of-6 from the line and holding the Mustangs to one basket over the final 2 minutes.
Schulz finished with 11 points for North Polk, making 4-of-8 shots and collecting four rebounds. Koudelka, the only senior who starts for North Polk, came up big at the end with her 3-pointer and then two free throws to close it out.
North Polk made just two 3-pointers but outscored the Mustangs 28-8 in the paint and 16-7 off turnovers.
Bickford led Dallas Center-Grimes with 12 points, Josie Lampe scored 10 and Kayla Reis eight. The Mustangs burned North Polk from the perimeter in building a 29-24 halftime lead, going 7-for-12 from deep. But North Polk turned up the pressure on the 3-point arc and the Mustangs made just 2-of-13 long-range shots over the final two quarters.
This is the fifth consecutive state tournament appearance in which North Polk has reached the semifinals. The Comets will take a 24-2 record against No. 1 seed Clear Creek-Amana at 5 p.m. Thursday.
Dallas Center-Grimes, appearing in the state tournament for the fourth straight year, finished 20-4. It has been an impressive four-year run for the Mustangs, who went 85-14 over that stretch.