DES MOINES, Iowa — In a stunning turnaround, Dallas Center-Grimes went from what appeared to be a certain loss to a berth in the Class 4A championship game.

Ava Smid’s eight-point burst in 19 seconds lifted the Mustangs to a 47-42 semifinal victory over Norwalk after they trailed by six with less than a minute to play.

Leading 42-36 after an impressive stretch by sophomore star Braylyn Birmingham, Norwalk seemed to have the game locked up. But the Mustangs got an opening when Norwalk’s Makenna Roeder missed two free throws.

Smid scored inside to cut the lead to four with 40 seconds left. A turnover gave the ball back to DCG and Smid quickly got another bucket inside. Then she stole the inbounds pass and made a layup to tie it at 42. And then she did it again, swiping the inbounds pass and hitting another layup. Only twenty-one seconds remained and DCG suddenly had a 44-42 lead.

After Birmingham missed a jumper from the baseline that would have tied it, the Mustangs sank three free throws — one of them after a technical foul — to finish off an improbable victory.

Dallas Center-Grimes, 23-2 with a 15-game winning streak, will play for the state title at 2:30 p.m. Saturday. The Mustangs are going after their second championship, having won it all in 2023.

Smid led DCG with 16 points and finished with six steals, five rebounds and two assists. Tessa Jones added 12 points and Leah Brauch scored nine.

Norwalk (23-3) had been seeking its first appearance in the finals since winning the 3A crown in 2006. Birmingham scored Norwalk’s final 16 points and finished with 26. Pearl Brown added six points and Ava Carlson had five points and 13 rebounds.

It certainly was a game of runs. Norwalk jumped to a 10-0 lead with Birmingham scoring eight points. DCG rallied to tie it at 16 before Norwalk went back up by eight. But the Mustangs came back again, tying the score at 28 before Birmingham went on her late run to give her team the lead that didn’t hold up.