Johnston beat Southeast Polk 60-48 in the Class 5A quarterfinals during the 2016 Iowa High School Girls Basketball State Tournament.

Top-ranked Johnston's midseason struggles are long forgotten.

Taryn Knuth controlled things in the post and Elle Brown ran the show effectively as
Knuth, a 6-foot-4 junior, scored 20 points, grabbed 16 rebounds and blocked four shots in an impressive all-around effort. Brown, also a junior, scored 15 points from her point guard position, including a 30-foot buzzer-beating 3-pointer at the end of the third quarter that put the Dragons ahead to stay.

Both Johnston stars are big-time athletes. Knuth has committed to Florida State for volleyball, while Brown has committed to Missouri for basketball.

Shayna Stubbs had eight points and five assists and Rachel Hinders added seven points and nine rebounds for Johnston, which has won 13 straight since losing three of four in late December and early January.

Casey Stuart's 19 points led Southeast Polk, which beat Johnston 60-57 on Dec. 21 but couldn't answer once the Dragons got control in this one. Sierra Mitchell added 14 points for the Rams and Allee Ira led the team with seven rebounds.

Once Johnston rallied from an early 6-1 deficit, the two teams went back and forth until late in the third quarter. Brown tied the score at 35 on a driving shot with 49 seconds left in the third quarter and followed with her emotion-fueling shot at the buzzer for a 38-35 lead.

The Dragons, who recorded their first state tournament victory since defeating Bonaparte, 19-11, in the 1934 consolation game, then scored nine of the first 11 points in the fourth quarter to complete a 14-2 run that put them up 47-37. They led by at least six the rest of the way.

Johnston will take a 21-3 record into a semifinal at 1:30 p.m. Friday against No. 6 Linn-Mar. Southeast Polk, in the tournament for a state-leading sixth straight year, finishes 18-6.

Story Courtesy of IGHSAU


Southeast Polk vs Johnston
03/02/16 3:15 p.m. at Wells Fargo Arena - Des Moines, Iowa

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VISITORS: Southeast Polk 18-6
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
04 Mitchell, Sierra.... *  6-17   0-6    2-2    1  5  6   3  14  0  2  0  1  31
14 Stuart, Casey....... *  8-15   2-4    1-1    1  2  3   5  19  4  2  0  0  32
22 McCool, Shiloh...... *  0-6    0-1    0-0    0  2  2   1   0  1  0  0  0  16
40 Penquite, Abby...... *  2-8    2-6    0-0    1  0  1   4   6  0  1  1  2  24
44 Ira, Allee.......... *  1-6    0-2    0-0    1  6  7   3   2  2  1  0  0  27
20 Zelenovich, Anna....    0-0    0-0    2-2    1  1  2   1   2  0  0  0  0   7
24 Penquite, Ami.......    0-0    0-0    0-0    1  0  1   1   0  1  0  0  0   6
42 Craig, Sami.........    2-4    0-0    1-3    0  3  3   1   5  0  0  0  0  17
   TEAM................                         2  3  5
   Totals..............   19-56   4-19   6-8    8 22 30  19  48  8  6  1  3 160

TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 10-30 33.3%   2nd Half:  9-26 34.6%   Game: 33.9%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  2-11 18.2%   2nd Half:  2-8  25.0%   Game: 21.1%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  2-4  50.0%   2nd Half:  4-4  100 %   Game: 75.0%    2


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HOME TEAM: Johnston 21-3
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
12 Brown, Elle......... *  5-10   1-2    4-4    0  2  2   1  15  2  3  0  2  29
20 Towers, Haylee...... *  2-4    1-2    1-2    0  3  3   1   6  0  1  0  0  22
22 Stubbs, Shayna...... *  2-4    0-0    4-6    2  1  3   3   8  5  0  0  0  21
42 Hinders, Rachel..... *  2-5    0-2    3-5    2  7  9   0   7  2  0  0  0  27
44 Knuth, Taryn........ *  7-15   0-0    6-8    1 15 16   1  20  0  2  4  1  32
04 Sieren, Paige.......    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  1  1   0   0  0  0  0  0  10
10 Wilmes, Brooke......    0-0    0-0    2-2    0  0  0   2   2  0  0  0  0   5
14 Beswick, Julia......    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0  0+
34 Johnson, Jennah.....    1-2    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   1   2  1  1  0  1  14
   TEAM................                                             1
   Totals..............   19-40   2-6   20-27   5 29 34   9  60 10  8  4  4 160

TOTAL FG% 1st Half:  8-20 40.0%   2nd Half: 11-20 55.0%   Game: 47.5%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  0-3   0.0%   2nd Half:  2-3  66.7%   Game: 33.3%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  6-8  75.0%   2nd Half: 14-19 73.7%   Game: 74.1%    1


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Officials: Keith Lehrman, Drew Matzen, Josh Mara
Technical fouls: Southeast Polk-None. Johnston-None.
Attendance:
Score by Periods                1st  2nd  3rd  4th   Total
Southeast Polk................   12   12   11   13  -   48
Johnston......................   11   11   16   22  -   60
FOULED OUT: SEP #14 Stuart at :30.3 in the 4th

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