The rematch is set in the Class 5A championship game.
Dowling Catholic turned back a feisty Waukee Northwest team 52-47 in a competitive semifinal to earn another shot at defending state champion Johnston, which beat the Maroons in last year’s title game.
The second-seeded Maroons and top-seeded Dragons will meet at 6 p.m. Friday, with each trying to add to an already impressive championship resume. It will be the 11th championship game appearance for second-seeded Dowling (22-3), which has won five titles. Top-seeded Johnston (25-0) is going after its fourth championship.
Dowling rallied from a seven-point deficit in the first half to beat Northwest (19-5), a 4-year-old school that played in the state tournament for the first time. An 8-0 run in the third quarter fueled by Ellie Muller erased Northwest’s final lead and the Maroons made the shots they needed to keep the Wolves at bay.
A lean 6-foot-2 junior, Muller was a tough matchup – effective inside but also capable on the perimeter. She finished with 17 points, including a 3-pointer, grabbed 12 rebounds, handed out three assists, blocked two shot and made a steal.
Creighton University recruit Ava Zediker added 15 points and four assists for the Maroons and Layla Trytten scored 12.
Sophomore Romey Croatt led Northwest with 16 points and 11 rebounds, while Vana Bilic and Cassidy Danburg each scored nine for the Wolves, who lost to Dowling 83-50 in early February but were a different team in this one.
Spreading the scoring around, the Wolves twice led by seven points in the first half and were up 27-23 at halftime. It was 29-23 early in the third quarter when Muller took over. She scored on a putback, made a layup off an inbounds pass and knocked down a mid-range jumper, all in a span of less than 2 minutes.
When Zediker pulled up to hit a jump shot, the Maroons had scored eight straight and led 34-29. Northwest tied it at 34, but Zediker buried a 3 from deep in the right corner and Katie Muller hit a trey at the start of the fourth quarter, stretching the lead to 40-34.
Northwest pulled on 42-41 on Croatt’s 3-pointer and follow shot and then Ellie Muller struck again, swishing a 3 from the top of the key. By the time Northwest scored again from the field – another Croatt 3 – the Maroons were safely ahead.
Dowling, which won its last title in 2014, improved its state tournament record to 34-21. The Maroons trail only Ankeny (43) in total tournament victories.
