Pleasant Valley girls basketball beats Johnston in Class 5A state championship game
Big offensive nights from two unlikely sources helped Pleasant Valley make history with a 59-56 victory over Johnston in the Class 5A championship game at the girls state basketball tournament Friday at Wells Fargo Arena.
Jessie Clemons and Addy Mauer combined for 30 points and Pleasant Valley survived a late pair of clutch 3s from Johnston's Aili Tanke to cap an undefeated 26-0 season and earn the first state championship in school history.
"I think we proved that the east side can play just as well as the Des Moines schools," Clemons said. "That was a big accomplishment. A lot of us faced adversity, whether it be our locker rooms not being ready or a lot of reporters saying we're the second seed."
Pleasant Valley was originally scheduled as the road team in Monday's quarterfinal game against West Des Moines Valley, even though the Spartans were the No. 1 seed entering the tournament.
That did nothing but fuel Pleasant Valley during the tournament. The Spartans won their first two tournament games by an average of 16 points over the two West Des Moines schools (Valley and Dowling Catholic) before knocking off the defending champions Friday.
"It's awesome," Clemons said. "We're going to have a bunch of records at home and it's an awesome experience to see your names in the records in PV."
Johnston fell just short of repeating and winning its third championship in four years. The Dragons ended their season at 24-2.
"We really pushed through," said Tanke, Johnston's leading scorer and an Iowa State commit. "At the end we didn't make the shot that we needed."
Jessie Clemons and Addy Mauer get it done when it matters
Clemons and Mauer entered the championship game averaging 11.9 points per game between them.
On Friday, Clemons went for 18 and Mauer 12.
"I think that's what separates championship teams," Clemons. "You don't rely on one or two people to knock down shots, it's the entire team that wins games. This weekend Mauer and I happened to be the two that stepped up."
Clemons, a 5A All-Tournament selection, scored her team's first four points of the game and she added seven more points in both the second and third quarters. She was an impressive 7 of 9 from the field and also pulled down eight rebounds.
Mauer, who was averaging just 2.9 points, had 10 points during Thursday's 50-33 semifinal win over Dowling Catholic and she was even better Friday. Mauer hit a big 3-pointer from the top of the key and followed with two free throws as part of a 9-0 run early in the fourth quarter that gave Pleasant Valley a 55-45 lead and ended up being the difference in the game.
"You need role players to step up in the state tournament and they did," Johnston coach Chad Jilek said. "They had a couple girls that made shots. Clemons was a difference-maker. If you don't have people step up that aren't the go-to players it's hard to win."
Reagan Pagniano hit four big free throws down the stretch to help Pleasant Valley hold on and she finished with 13 points. Halle Vice, the Spartans' all-time leading scorer, finished with 14 points and four assists and her sister Quinn added six rebounds and two blocks.
Aili Tanke nearly saves Johnston
Johnston was in big trouble after Pleasant Valley's big run to start the fourth quarter.
But then Tanke came to the rescue and nearly brought the Dragons all the way back.
After scoring 17 points in the first half, Tanke went scoreless until the final 22.5 seconds. But she hit two 3-pointers in less than nine seconds to pull Johnston within 57-56 with 13.9 seconds left.
The second 3-pointer came after Johnston forced Vice to step on the baseline when Pleasant Valley got the ball inbounds after Tanke's first trey.
"We fought to the end, which is all you could ever ask for," Tanke said. "We were in it the whole game. I'm proud of our team."
Tanke finished with 23 points and 14 rebounds. Aaliyah Riley also scored 23 points and she dished out six assists.
"Without those two we wouldn't have been anywhere near them," Jilek said. "Those two were amazing and they're back next year."
Johnston also returns talented freshman Jenica Lewis as the Dragons will eye a fifth straight trip to the 5A championship game in 2024.
This article originally appeared on Ames Tribune: Pleasant Valley holds off Johnston to claim 5A girls state title
