Johnston girls basketball eases past Southeast Polk into state semifinal
The Johnston girls basketball team advanced to the Class 5A state semifinals after beating Southeast Polk 70-48 on Monday morning.
The No. 7-seeded Rams (15-8) jumped on the board first with a 3-pointer from Jacie Mitchell, but it was mostly the Dragons from then on out. No. 2 seed Johnston (23-1), playing in its ninth straight state tournament, led 16-9 after one quarter and held a 34-23 advantage at halftime.
Emma Hampton grabbed Johnston's first bucket and then went on a tear. She was 5-of-6 shooting for 10 points in the opening two quarters and scored six straight to start the game. Her first score came on a layup off her own steal with an assist by Jenica Lewis. Hampton finished with 15 points.
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"She's been playing really good for the last couple weeks," said Johnston coach Chad Jilek. "(She) was the key to this game for us."
Several other players piled on the points for the Dragons as the defense held Southeast Polk at bay. The Rams shot just 29.2% from the field in the first half compared to Johnston’s 60.9% success rate. The Dragons kept things tight, allowing the Rams to shoot just 31.5% from the field and 26.9% from beyond the arc by the end of the game.
"One of our keys for the game was not to give up 3s, and we didn't do a good job in the first," Jilek said. "We gave up five 3s and we can't do that. But each of our defenders was able to keep going. They didn't get a lot of second-chance opportunities, and we kind of owned the boards on them."
Johnston shot 65% from the field and made 41.2% of its 3-point attempts.
Aili Tanke and Aaliyah Riley were forces on both ends of the floor for Johnston. Riley made strong cuts in the paint, and she paired that with a strong defensive performance. Tanke was everything you want in a veteran player, managing the clock and making some 3-point shots look easy.
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Tanke led the Dragons with 16 points and 11 boards. Riley picked up 11 points and added a couple blocks. Freshman phenom Lewis had eight points, six assists, four blocks and three steals in her first state tournament game.
Even in a loss, there were glimpses of excitement for Southeast Polk. Brooklin Dailey found a way to score consistently against Johnston’s stingy defense. Mitchell faced off against some of the Dragons’ toughest players and Zoe Hinze was a clutch contributor off the bench.
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Dailey led the Rams with 14 points, and Alyssa Bartlett recorded seven rebounds. But those performances weren't enough against the reigning state champions.
Johnston advances to Thursday's semifinal to play Ankeny Centennial (18-6). Tipoff is scheduled for 10 a.m. in Wells Fargo Arena.
Alyssa Hertel is the college sports recruiting reporter for the Des Moines Register. Contact Alyssa at ahertel@dmreg.com or on Twitter @AlyssaHertel.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Johnston girls basketball advances to Iowa state tournament semifinal
