DES MOINES, Iowa — A wire-to-wire victory sent defending champion Hinton back to the Class 2A title game.
The Blackhawks jumped to a quick 6-0 lead and turned back every Denver challenge in beating the Cyclones 58-47 to start the state tournament’s Friday session.
Hinton (22-1) won for the 20th straight time and will go for its second consecutive championship at 4:45 p.m. Saturday. Denver, seeking its first trip to the finals since a runner-up finish in 1999, finished an outstanding season with a 23-3 record. The Cyclones’ two other losses both came to state tournament qualifiers — Dunkerton in Class 1A and Waverly-Shell Rock in 4A.
Hinton won it with some torrid stretches of shooting. The Blackhawks shot 77 percent (10-for-13) in building a 23-14 lead after the first quarter, fired away at a 71percent clip (5-for-7) in the third quarter and finished at 55 percent for the game.
Sydney Doeschot, a skilled 5-foot-7 senior, led the way with 19 points while adding seven rebounds and five assists. Raelyn Kempema scored 15 points for the Blackhawks and Addison Glass had 12, including 10 in the first quarter to spark her team’s fast start.
Hinton’s shooting was part of a fast-moving opening quarter. Denver shot 62.5 percent in the period but could not keep pace because the Blackhawks were shooting even better. The Cyclones cooled off after that and ended the game at 39 percent.
Channing Johnson, who helped Denver win the last two 2A championships in volleyball, led the Cyclones with 12 points, four assists and two steals. Lexi Bentham, a 5-3 senior, gave the team a lift off the bench with 11 points and Grace Mullihan added eight points and nine rebounds.
Down by 11 early in the second quarter, Denver ran off nine straight points to get within a basket before Doeschot ended the quarter with a putback and layup for a 31-25 halftime lead.
The Blackhawks began the second half with nine straight points to go up 40-25 and that proved to be too much for Denver to overcome.
The Cyclones twice got to within eight points, the second time at 56-48 after Bentham knocked down two 3-pointers and made a layup. But only 47 seconds remained and Hinton held on to secure its chance to go for the gold again.
