DES MOINES, Iowa – With all of Dowling Catholic’s size and experience, it was left to a youngster to lead the Maroons back to the Class 5A semifinals.
In the third meeting of the season between the West Des Moines rivals, freshman Adrienne Sears scored eight of Dowling’s last 11 points and finished with 24 as the second-seeded Maroons turned back repeated challenges from Valley in a 55-48 victory.
Dowling (21-3) beat Valley margins of 21 and 38 points during the regular season, but the seventh-seeded Tigers stayed with their rivals this time despite the Maroons’ decided height advantage with 6-foot-3 Ellie Muller and her 6-2 sister Katie.
Down by as many as nine points in the second half, Valley twice pulled to within a point, the second time at 46-45 on Avery Moon’s two free throws with 4:36 left. Moments later, Dowling’s Tess Carmichael found Sears open in the right corner and Sears buried the 3-pointer to make it 49-45. Sears finished 8-for-9 from the field and added a rebound, two assists and a steal.
After Tylee Weite hit a turnaround in the lane for Valley, Sears drew a foul driving to the basket and sank both free throws for a 51-47 lead. The lead grew to 53-47 when Ellie Muller hit Madison Rice cutting to the basket for a layup, and free throws by Katie Muller and Sears wrapped it up. The Maroons’ defense took hold late, keeping Valley without a field goal over the final 3 ½ minutes.
Ellie Muller added 16 points and 15 rebounds for the Maroons, who reached the semifinals for the fourth straight year and will play again at 11:45 a.m. Thursday. Rice chipped in with 10 points and two assists. Katie Muller, the team’s leading scorer with a 17.2 average, was limited to two shots and two points in this one, but the Maroons got more than enough scoring from the others to compensate.
Dowling started hot, making 8 of its 11 first-quarter shots, and finished the game at 55.6 percent. The Maroons piled up a 30-16 rebounding advantage and a 34-12 edge in points in the paint.
Valley, with no starter taller than 5-10, kept it close by going 9-for-15 from 3-point range. The Tigers (13-11) had only five field goals inside the arc and shot 34.1 percent overall. Tylee Weite hit three of those triples and led Valley with 13 points. Baileigh Utoff went 2-for-4 from deep and added 12 points.
Dowling is in the state tournament for the 27th time, matching Ankeny for the most appearances in state history. The Maroons now have 36 state tournament wins, trailing only the 44 recorded by Ankeny, which made the semifinals in the other bracket with a 57-44 victory over Cedar Rapids Washington.
