Avah Underwood and her Council Bluffs St. Albert teammates had to go the extra mile to give the school its first state championship in girls basketball.

St. Albert and Newell-Fonda took their Class 1A title game into a second overtime before the Saintes emerged with a 61-58 victory to close out the 2024-25 high school season. 

Molly Wise hit a 3-pointer from the right corner to put St. Albert (25-1) ahead to stay with 1:03 left, but it was Underwood who kept the Saintes in it to that point.

The 6-foot junior, voted captain of the all-tournament team, scored 20 points and set three rebounding records and tied another. Her 24 rebounds were the most in a 1A tournament game and matched the overall tournament record. She totaled 55 rebounds for the tournament, both a class and overall record.

Wise finished with 12 points on four 3-pointers, while Eleanor Coughlin added seven points, eight rebounds, five assists, a block and a steal for the Saintes, whose best finish at state previously was as the Class 2A runner-up in 2000.

 Newell-Fonda (22-5) fell short on chances to win it at the end of regulation and in the final seconds of the first overtime and settled its third-straight second-place finish and ninth overall. The Mustangs have won four titles and their 13 championship game appearances are a state record.

Kinzee Hinders led Newell-Fonda with 22 points and nine rebounds. Jocee Walsh added nine points and nine rebounds and Anna Mercer pulled down eight rebounds to go with four points. Freshman Ellie Sievers had eight points, three assists and two steals for the Mustangs. 

The two teams exchanged the lead seven times in the second half before Coughlin drove for a basket, the ball circling the rim twice before dropping through and tying the game at 51 with 9 seconds left.

After a timeout, Hinders took the ball the way to the basket but had it knocked away at the buzzer. The Mustangs came from five points down in the first overtime to tie it at 56 and Mareni Barbec had an open shot from the left corner but left it just short.

Underwood’s block led to Wise’s go-ahead 3 and Maura Ryan followed with two free throws to stretch St. Albert’s lead to 61-56. Jocee Walsh’s putback cut the lead to three and the Mustangs got it back on a turnover. But Ellie Monahan blocked Sievers’ hurried 3-point shot, time ran out and the Saintes began their celebration.

Ryan, Hinders and Sievers joined Underwood on the all-tournament team, along with Molly Boge of North Linn and Graclyn Eastman of Bishop Garrigan.