Pocahontas sophomore Elle Ruffridge has a shooter's mentality and the confidence to go with it.

Ruffridge scored 16 of her 32 points during a game-turning second half run that sent No. 2 Pocahontas Area to a 58-43 victory over fifth-ranked Crestwood and into the Class-3A championship game.

A 5-foot-3 guard, Ruffridge was struggling from long range before finding her touch and leading the Indians (25-1) to within one victory of their first state title. They'll play seventh-ranked Nevada in the championship game at 4 p.m. Saturday.

Ruffridge missed her first nine 3-point attempts, then swished three in a row to spark a 24-3 run that took Pocahontas from a one-point deficit midway through the third quarter to a 58-38 advantage with 3 minutes left in the game. She also drove for a layup, hit a runner in the lane, cut behind the defense for a reverse layup and made a free throw.

For good measure, Ruffridge set up her teammates with five assists and made five steals. She now has scored 1,309 points in her career, with one more game and two full seasons to go.

Faith Meyer added 10 points for Pocahontas and her sister Rose added seven.

Madison Sickles led Crestwood (22-3) with 17 points and Shannon Pisney scored 10 to go with eight rebounds.

The Cadets, appearing at state for the second straight year, had some momentum going when they rallied from an early deficit to take a 35-34 lead on Karlee Grabau's two free throws with 4:05 left in the third quarter. But Rose Meyer buried a 3-pointer 13 seconds later, Ruffridge got going and Crestwood had no answer.

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