Dowling Catholic did it with defense in the first half and relied on its long-range shooting after that. The result was a 59-48 victory over Cedar Falls and a berth in the Class 5A championship game.
The third-seeded Maroons reached the finals for the first time since 2014 and the 10th time overall. Only Newell-Fonda with 11 appearances has more. Newell-Fonda will try to make it an even dozen when it plays in a Class 1A semifinal on Friday.
Dowling Catholic, a five-time state champion, improved to 21-4 with its 11th straight victory but will face a major challenge when it meets unbeaten Johnston at 6 p.m. on Friday. The top-seeded Dragons have yet to be challengedin the postseason and rolled over Waukee 74-33 in the first semifinal.
Johnston won two regular-season meetings with Dowling Catholic, 65-53 and 43-31.
Junior Ava Zediker, who has committed to Creighton, led the Maroons’ charge against Cedar Falls with 22 points on 8-for-15 shooting, including 3-of-4 from 3-point range. Sophomore Ellie Muller dominated inside with 19 points on 7-for-11 shooting, 13 rebounds and seven blocks. Freshman Katelyn Muller knocked down three shots from deep and finished with 11 points. Ellie Olson did not scorebut contributed with six rebounds and five assists.
The Maroons threw a variety of defenses at Cedar Falls star Grace Knuston, a Drake recruit, after she made eight 3s and scored 34 points in a quarterfinal victory over Davenport North. Knutson led the seventh-seeded Tigers with 20 points but had to work for everything. She finished 9-of-26 from the field with two 3-pointers after starting 1-for-9.
Gabie Hanks added 12 points for the Tigers, Karis Finley scored eight and Grace Hannam pulled down 12 rebounds.
Dowling Catholic kept Cedar Falls at bay early and led 25-24 at halftime. The Maroons made just one of seven 3-point attempts in the opening half but found the range after halftime and went 7-for-14 from deep over the final two quarters.
Katelyn Muller drilled back-to-back 3s to start the second half and the Maroons scored the final 11 points of the quarter to break it open. Zediker hit from long range, Ellie Muller came outside to hit a 3 and Zediker buried another one before Layla Trytten’s rebound basket at the buzzer made it 50-36. Cedar Falls was never closer than the final margin after that.
Cedar Falls had a 21-game winning streak broken and finished 23-2 in its 14th state tournament trip.