Western Christian opened a big lead before settling for a 61-50 victory over No. 8 Central Decatur in a Class 2A quarterfinal match. Western Christian advanced to the 2016 Iowa High School Girls Basketball State Tournament Semifinals round.

Western Christian's Ashtyn Veerbeek scored 21 points on 7-for-10 shooting. Kaira Moss added 14 points for Western Christian, and Erika Feenstra scored 10. Veerbeek also grabbed 11 rebounds, handed out three assists.

Lily Simon led Central Decatur with 14 points and freshman Alli Masters scored 12.

Western Christian, in the tournament for the fifth straight year, bolted to a 17-3 lead and was up by 23 midway through the third quarter. But Central Decatur never gave up and fought its way back into it. The Cardinals drew to 46-34 as the third quarter ended and trailed just 52-46 after Alex Graham hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 2:19 remaining.

That was as close as it got. Veerbeek drove from past midcourt for a layup, Moss followed with a layup and Western Christian closed the game with a 9-2 run to advance to the semifinals.

Western now has won 22 straight after losing two of its first three. The Wolfpack will play again at 1:30 p.m. Thursday.

Central Decatur, which had only one senior, had a 19-game winning streak broken and finished 23-2.

Story Courtesy of IGHSAU

Central Decatur vs Western Christian
2-29-16 5 p.m. at Wells Fargo Arena - Des Moines

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VISITORS: Central Decatur 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
11 Masters, Alli....... *  3-11   0-4    6-6    1  5  6   4  12  2  2  0  3  31
15 Boothe, Reagan...... *  2-8    1-4    3-6    1  6  7   2   8  0  3  0  2  31
21 Simon, Lily......... *  4-9    1-2    5-8    1  2  3   5  14  3  4  0  2  31
33 Graham, Alex........ *  1-3    1-2    0-0    0  0  0   0   3  1  0  0  0  22
35 Hullinger, Jentri... *  1-4    0-1    0-0    0  4  4   5   2  0  3  0  0  19
13 Ridgway, Abbie......    1-1    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   2  0  0  0  1  0+
23 Boswell, Alliey.....    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0  0+
43 Yoder, Chloe........    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0  0+
45 Atwood, Amma........    4-10   1-3    0-0    1  1  2   3   9  1  2  0  1  26
51 Kauzlarich, Erica...    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0  0+
53 Buckingham, Kennedy.    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0  0+
   TEAM................                         1  1  2
   Totals..............   16-46   4-16  14-20   5 19 24  19  50  7 14  0  9 160

TOTAL FG% 1st Half:  5-26 19.2%   2nd Half: 11-20 55.0%   Game: 34.8%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  2-11 18.2%   2nd Half:  2-5  40.0%   Game: 25.0%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  3-6  50.0%   2nd Half: 11-14 78.6%   Game: 70.0%    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
03 Feenstra, Erika..... *  4-10   2-6    0-2    3  1  4   3  10  0  3  0  0  30
05 Harmsen, Payton..... *  1-7    1-6    1-2    2  5  7   5   4  4  0  1  0  22
10 Moss, Kaira......... *  6-8    0-0    2-2    1  7  8   4  14  1  2  0  0  25
11 Bousema, Erica...... *  2-5    2-4    0-3    2  1  3   3   6  3  4  0  3  29
32 Veerbeck, Ashton.... *  7-10   0-0    7-8    3  8 11   1  21  3  5  3  2  26
02 VanKley, Avery......    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  1  0  0  0+
13 DeJager, Jessi......    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0  0+
21 Marra, Jordyn.......    0-2    0-2    0-0    0  1  1   0   0  0  0  0  1   6
22 Buren, Alyssa.......    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0  0+
23 Wynja, Janae........    0-1    0-0    1-2    1  1  2   0   1  0  0  0  0   7
34 Winterfeld, Karsyn..    2-5    1-4    0-0    0  3  3   2   5  3  2  0  0  15
   TEAM................                            2  2
   Totals..............   22-48   6-22  11-19  12 29 41  18  61 14 17  4  6 160

TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 12-34 35.3%   2nd Half: 10-14 71.4%   Game: 45.8%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  5-19 26.3%   2nd Half:  1-3  33.3%   Game: 27.3%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  3-4  75.0%   2nd Half:  8-15 53.3%   Game: 57.9%   3,1


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Officials: Travis Carrel, Tyler Eason, Kevin Nantulya
Technical fouls: Central Decatur-None. Western Christian-None.
Attendance:
Score by Periods                1st  2nd  3rd  4th   Total
Central Decatur...............    4   11   19   16  -   50
Western Christian.............   17   15   14   15  -   61
Fouled Out: CD: #35 Hullinger @ 6:49 (4th); #21 Simon @ :15.4 (4th)
            WC: #05 Harmsen @ 3:43 (4th)

Points in the paint-CDECATUR 18,WESTERN 26. Points off turnovers-CDECATUR 17,WESTERN 7.
2nd chance points-CDECATUR 1,WESTERN 16. Fast break points-CDECATUR 2,WESTERN 0.
Bench points-CDECATUR 11,WESTERN 6. Score tied-1 time. Lead changed-0 times.
Last FG-CDECATUR 4th-00:06, WESTERN 4th-02:04.
Largest lead-CDECATUR None, WESTERN by 23 3rd-03:46.

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