Des Moines Christian is headed to the Class 3A semifinals with a school-record victory total, but there were some tense moments before the Lions could celebrate.
Addy Oetker and Abby Hall each scored 17 points and Des Moines Christian held off a late charge by Benton Community for a 49-46 victory to avenge a quarterfinal loss to the Bobcats in last year’s tournament.
The second-seeded Lions hiked their record to 24-1 and will take a 21-game winning streak into a semifinal game at 3:15 p.m. Thursday. Seventh-seeded Benton, the state runner-up a year ago, finished with an 18-7 record.
McKenna Kramer led Benton with 17 points and Emma Townsley scored 15 to go with seven rebounds and four assists.
Des Moines Christian looked to be in good shape when Gianna Bennett, who led both teams with 14 rebounds, converted a three-point play for a 47-38 lead with 4:13 left. But the Bobcats still had life.
Townsley drove for a basket, McKenna buried her fourth 3-pointer of the game and Zoey Junge sank three free throws after being fouled on a 3-point shot, cutting the lead to 48-46 with 1:20 to play.
Each team then missed a shot and Benton got a chance when the Lions threw away an inbounds pass with 13.6 seconds left. But Junge missed a 3 and the Bobcats had to foul, sending Bennett to the line with 3.4 seconds to play. She made the first shot and missed the second, but Benton couldn’t control the rebound and the Lions survived.
Oetker scored eight of Des Moines Christian’s nine first-round quarter and finished 7-for-9 from the field. She complemented her scoring with four rebounds, six assists and a steal.
Other the errant inbounds pass near the end, the Lions took care of the ball and had only seven turnovers. Benton turned it over just six times but shot only 28.6 percent and went 7-for-30 from 3-point range.