Go-Hawks Fall To Carlisle At Girls State Tournament

Fourth-ranked Carlisle charged from behind in the fourth quarter to hand No. 5 Waverly-Shell Rock its first loss of the season, 56-50, in the Class-4A quarterfinals of the Girls State Basketball Tournament.

In a back-and-forth game, both teams had leads of seven points in the opening half before Carlisle settled for 30-27 advantage at the break. The Go-Hawks' tied it on Payton Draper's three-point play early in the second half and used a 9-2 run to open a 43-37 lead early in the fourth quarter.

Carlisle ran off six quick points to tie it, then hit the shots it needed down the stretch to win it while holding the Go-Hawks to one basket over the final 7 minutes.

Payton Keeney broke a 45-45 tie with a free throw and Agatha Baier followed with a 3-pointer from deep in the left corner for a 49-45 lead with 3:20 remaining. The Wildcats (22-2) stayed on top the rest of the way, helped by Baier's slick high-low pass to Keeney for a layup that put Carlisle up 51-46.

Keeney finished 6-for-9 from the field and led the Wildcats with 20 points. Kaleigh Haus added 15 points, while Baeier had 10 points and six assists.

Carlisle outscored Waverly-Shell Rock 14-7 at the free throw line to help offset the Go-Hawks' 28-19 rebounding advantage.

Victoria Asplund led Waverly-Shell Rock (23-1) with 14 points. Haley Grawe and Sophia Phillips each scored eight for the Go-Hawks, who made it to state for the second time in three years. Waverly-Shell Rock's last trip to Des Moines in 2013 ended with a state championship.

The Go-Hawks made their journey this year following their first unbeaten regular season in school history. Waverly-Shell Rock won its first 23 games without having a player average more than 9.5 points per game.

Carlisle will be making its second consecutive appearance in the state semifinals at 6:45 p.m. Thursday. Under the leadership of coach Bryan White, the Wildcats have had plenty of success the past two years after the Wildcats struggled through a 1-22 season in 2012-13.