Solon and Dubuque Wahlert Catholic met in the first round of the Class 3A tournament for the second straight year and just like in 2023, Solon advanced.
Iowa recruit Callie Levin scored 20 points and third-seeded Solon turned back a Wahlert Catholic rally to advance to the semifinals with a 58-47 victory. Hailey Miller added 16 points and Kobi Lietz 11 for the Spartans, who got all they could handle from the hustling Golden Eagles.
Solon led by as many as 12 in the first half before Claire Lueken’s basket inside and Claire King’s 3 from the right corner drew Wahlert Catholic to 34-29 at halftime. The sixth-seeded Golden Eagles kept it close in the early stages of the second half, then went on a 10-3 run to tie it at 39 on another Lueken bucket in the paint. She led Wahlert Catholic with 15 points and grabbed eight rebounds.
Kylie Sieverding stopped the bleeding for Solon with a putback, and with the third quarter about to end, Miller launched a high-arching 3 from the right corner. The ball dropped through the net as the buzzer sounded, putting Solon up 44-39.
The Spartans finally shook the Golden Eagles after Lueken’s driving shot drew Wahlert to 48-43 with 5:28 to play. The Golden Eagles went nearly 5 minutes before scoring again and Solon ran off 10 straight points to nail down the victory.
Wahlert kept Levin in check after she scored 15 points in the first half. She went more than 11 minutes in the second half without scoring, then was a factor in helping the Spartans pull away. She made a free throw for a 49-43 lead, then sank more at the line before dropping in a pull-up jumper. That made it 53-43 and the Spartans finished it up on free throws.
Levin added five rebounds, four assists and two steals to her line. Lietz had six of the Spartans’ 14 steals and Anna Quillin was strong inside with 16 rebounds and eight points on 4-for-5 shooting.
Olivia Donovan had 13 points and 11 rebounds for Wahlert, Maria Freed scored 11 and King finished with seven.
Solon won last year’s game 54-46, then lost to eventual champion Sioux Center in the semifinals. The Spartans will take a 22-3 record against second-seeded Des Moines Christian in a semifinal matchup at 3:15 p.m. Thursday. Wahlert finished 19-6. All of the Golden Eagles’ regular-season losses were to Class 4A or 5A teams.