Johnston gave Iowa City Liberty a rude introduction to state tournament basketball.

The Dragons, the defending Class 5A champions, scored early and often in rolling past Liberty 73-45 to open the 2025 tourney. It was the 50th straight victory for Johnston (24-0), which hasn’t lost since the 2023 state championship game.

Liberty (17-7) reached the state tournament for the first time after setting a school record  for victories but simply could not match the talent that Johnston puts on the floor.

Johnston constantly sliced through the Liberty defense for layups, shooting 69.7 percent in building a 51-20 halftime lead and finishing the game at 57 percent. So efficient was the Dragons’ offense that they made 20 of 22 shots inside the 3-point arc in the opening half.

Armani Jenkins, the only senior who plays significant minutes for Johnston, led the team with 16 points on 7-for-10 shooting. Ari Phillips, the team’s talented sophomore point guard, tacked on 15 points, seven rebounds, five assists and two steals and junior Jaliyah Kinnetz added 13 points off the bench on 5-for-7 shooting.

Jenica Lewis, a junior being recruited by Division I schools across the country, finished with eight points, eight assists, five rebounds and four steals. The Dragons had 11 steals in all and outrebounded the Lighting 33-22 while holding them to 32.6 percent shooting. 

Madeline Casey led Liberty with 13 points. University of South Dakota recruit Natalie Ramsey, who scored 40 in Liberty’s regional final victory over Iowa City High, finished with 11 points and eight rebounds in her last game in a Lightning uniform.

Lewis banked in a 3-pointer, drove for a layup and handed out three assists as Johnston rocketed to a 15-1 lead. The game was nearly 5 minutes old before Liberty made its first field goal.

Ahead 24-7 at the end of the quarter, Johnston started the second period with an 11-3 run to go up 35-10 and continued to add to its lead from there. The Dragons led by as many as 37 in the second half and coach Chad Jilek was able to get all 15 players who suited up into the game..