Western Christian Beats North Linn In 2A Opener
No matter who's on the floor, Western Christian always seems to thrive at state tournament time.
The Wolfpack had to work to get their latest victory, however, coming from behind in the fourth quarter to beat North Linn 58-48 in the Class 2A quarterfinals of the 2017 Iowa High School Girls State Basketball Tournament.
Western got another big game from 6-foot-2 junior Ashtyn Veerbeek, who went 14-for-18 on free throws in scoring 25 points and pulled down 19 rebounds. Erika Feenstra added 18 points for Western on 7-for-11 shooting and Jessi DeJager scored 10.
Veerbeek, who has committed to Nebraska, is more than just an inside player. She handles the ball well, too, and in one sequence she blocked a shot, grabbed the ball, dribbled the length of the court and made a reverse layup.
Guard Karsyn Winterfeld had only one basket for the fourth-ranked Wolfpack, but it was a big one. She hit a 3-pointer with just over three minutes to play to give Western a 50-44 lead, starting a game-ending 11-4 run that wrapped up the Wolfpack's 23rd victory in 25 outings.
A young North Linn team was impressive in losing for just the second time in 26 games. The Lynx started two freshman and three juniors and did not have a senior on the roster.
Freshman Grace Flanagan, who plays with the poise of someone much older, led North Linn with 15 points. Anna LeGrand scored 10 for the Lynx, while Ashley Tull had seven points and 10 rebounds.
In a back-and-forth game that would have been worthy of a state final, North Linn edged ahead 40-37 late in the third quarter. But Western Christian opened the final quarter with a bucket from Verbeek inside and a 3-pointer from Erica Bousema. That put the Wolfpack up 42-40 and they never trailed again.
Western Christian will play top-ranked Iowa City Regina in a semifinal game at 1:30 p.m. Thursday. Western finished second in last year's state tournament after winning titles in 2012, 2013 and 2014.
Story Courtesy of IGHSAU
North Linn vs Western Christian
02/27/17 6:45 p.m. at Des Moines, Iowa - Wells Fargo Arena
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VISITORS: North Linn 24-2
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
23 Flanagan, Grace..... * 5-9 2-5 3-4 0 5 5 1 15 3 1 0 0 32
33 Flanagan, Abbey..... * 3-7 1-4 0-0 0 2 2 4 7 2 1 0 0 32
45 LeGrand, Anna....... * 3-11 1-3 3-5 1 1 2 1 10 1 2 0 3 31
51 Tull, Ashley........ * 2-8 0-1 3-6 1 9 10 4 7 0 1 3 0 26
53 Ware, Emma.......... * 1-2 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 3 2 0 1 0 0 19
11 Finnegan, Fallon.... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0+
13 Holub, Mallory...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0+
15 Bridgewater, Hannah. 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1
21 Gallery, Natalie.... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0+
35 Kurt, Kylie......... 2-5 2-5 1-2 1 1 2 1 7 0 2 0 1 19
41 Burke, Sydney....... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0+
43 Gallery, Jenna...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0+
TEAM................ 1 1
Totals.............. 16-42 6-18 10-17 3 20 23 15 48 6 8 3 4 160
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 12-23 52.2% 2nd Half: 4-19 21.1% Game: 38.1% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-9 33.3% 2nd Half: 3-9 33.3% Game: 33.3% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 2-3 66.7% 2nd Half: 8-14 57.1% Game: 58.8% 5,1
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HOME TEAM: Western Christian 23-2
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
05 Feenstra, Erika..... * 7-11 3-6 1-3 1 2 3 2 18 2 1 0 0 29
10 DeJager, Jessi...... * 5-7 0-0 0-1 3 0 3 3 10 0 2 1 2 21
11 Bousema, Erica...... * 1-4 1-3 0-0 1 1 2 3 3 5 1 0 1 28
32 Veerbeek, Ashtyn.... * 5-17 0-2 14-18 5 14 19 0 24 3 2 1 0 29
34 Winterfeld, Karsyn.. * 1-5 1-5 0-0 0 1 1 2 3 3 0 0 1 24
02 VanKley, Avery...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0+
03 Granstra, Olivia.... 0-2 0-1 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 13
13 Heemskerk, Kailey... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
15 DeJong, Cori........ 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0+
21 Marra, Jordyn....... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0+
22 Bousema, Emma....... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
23 Wynja, Janae........ 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 5 5 2 0 0 0 0 0 11
24 Buren, Alyssa....... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0+
30 Postma, Ally........ 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1
31 Postma, Abby........ 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
TEAM................ 1 1
Totals.............. 19-46 5-17 15-22 10 25 35 13 58 13 8 2 4 160
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 9-28 32.1% 2nd Half: 10-18 55.6% Game: 41.3% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-12 25.0% 2nd Half: 2-5 40.0% Game: 29.4% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 5-8 62.5% 2nd Half: 10-14 71.4% Game: 68.2% 3
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Officials: Rollie Wiebers, Mark Royer, Shawn Petersen
Technical fouls: North Linn-None. Western Christian-None.
Attendance:
Score by Periods 1st 2nd 3rd 4th Total
North Linn.................... 15 14 11 8 - 48
Western Christian............. 15 11 11 21 - 58
Points in the paint-NLINN 18,WEST-CHR 16. Points off turnovers-NLINN 4,WEST-CHR 8.
2nd chance points-NLINN 6,WEST-CHR 13. Fast break points-NLINN 0,WEST-CHR 4.
Bench points-NLINN 7,WEST-CHR 0. Score tied-9 times. Lead changed-12 times.
Last FG-NLINN 4th-02:06, WEST-CHR 4th-02:15.
Largest lead-NLINN by 5 2nd-01:13, WEST-CHR by 10 4th-00:20.
NLINN led for 10:02. WEST-CHR led for 14:57. Game was tied for 07:00.