With one 35-second burst, Hinton erased an entire game of frustration.
The Blackhawks ran off six straight points in that fourth-quarter span to finally take the lead for good and went on to beat Rock Valley 53-47 to complete the Class 2A semifinal bracket.
Appearing at state for the first time since 2009, third-seeded Hinton (24-0) remained one of the two unbeaten teams still playing and will face second-seeded Iowa City Regina Catholic at 11:45 a.m. Friday, with the winner advancing to Saturday’s championship game.
Hinton has played in the title game once, losing to Rock Valley in the Class 1A finals in 2002.
The other team still unbeaten is Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont, which will play Central Lyon the first 2A semifinal on Friday.
Sydney Doeschot led Hinton with 18 points, Raelyn Kempema added 14 points and nine rebounds and Karyln Kovarna scored, including the basket that started the Blackhawks’ winning rally.
After scoring the game’s first basket, Hinton had to play catch-up almost to the end. The Blackhawks trailed 25-13 halftime, then started the second half with a 15-2 run to inch ahead 28-27. That lead lasted all of 8 seconds. Rock Valley came back to go up 37-30, leaving the Blackhawks facing another uphill climb.
After two lead changes and a tie, Hinton trailed 44-43 with just under 2 minutes to play. Moments later, the Blackhawks had the lead. Kovarna hit a contested turnaround shot, Addy Pigott stole the ensuing inbounds pass and made a layup and Doeschot dribbled a wide arc around the court before taking the ball in for layup that gave the Blackhawks a 49-44 lead with 1:18 left.
Rock Valley drew to 51-47 on Brynlie Zomer’s 3-pointer with 28 seconds left, but the Rockets never got off another shot and Doeschot sank two free throws to finish it off.
Hudsyn Ranschau led Rock Valley (20-4) with 19 points, while Haevyn Ranschau and Zomer each scored eight. Zomer also grabbed 15 rebounds and blocked three shots.
The loss was just the third in 12 state tournament games for Rock Valley, which won three consecutive titles behind IGHSAU Hall of Famer Deb Remmerde from 2001-03.
