DES MOINES, Iowa — Before this season, Maquoketa had never won a state tournament game.
Now the Cardinals are state champions.
Maquoketa dominated the game at crunch time and knocked off defending champion Mount Vernon 59-42 to win the Class 3A title in emphatic fashion.
Trailing 36-30 midway through the third quarter, the Cardinals ended the game on a 29-6 run to close out their historic season. They had played in only one state tourney game previously, losing to Dallas-Center Grimes in an opening-round Class 4A game last year.
It was a case of catching fire at the right time for the Cardinals, who lost two of their last four regular-season games before sweeping through regional and state tournament play, winning five of those six games by double-figure margins.
Cora Widel led the run to the title with 21 points, shooting 6-for-9 and grabbing seven rebounds. Maelyn Kluever added 16 points for the Cardinals, who had rallied from 12 down in the second half to beat Des Moines Christian in the semifinals. Hadley Ihrig came off the bench to score nine points on 3-for-5 shooting from 3-point range.
Maquoketa shot it well — 50 percent for the game — and was especially accurate from deep, going 9-for-17. The Cardinals outrebounded the defending champs 32-22 and cashed in at the free throw line, making 12 of 14. Widel made all six of her free throws and went 3-for-4 beyond the arc.
Mount Vernon (24-3), which had won 22 straight, led for most of the first half and seemed to have things going its way when Savanna Wright sank two free throws for that 36-30 lead with 3:43 left in the third quarter. But the Mustangs would make only one basket the rest of the way, missing all 13 of their fourth-quarter shots, and Maquoketa charged back.
Widel buried a 3 at the end of the third quarter to put the Cardinals ahead to stay at 43-40, and Kluever hit a trey and drove for a bucket to start the fourth quarter to continue the momentum. Wright’s two free throws drew Mount Vernon to 48-42 with 5:41 remaining, but the Mustangs never scored again and Maquoketa won going away.
Wright, voted captain of the all-tournament team, led Mount Vernon with 19 points. Quinn Pershing scored nine and Taylor Franck had seven.
Widel, Kluever and Franck also made the all-tournament team along with Des Moines Christian’s Reese DeVooght and Emily Tanny of Dubuque Wahlert Catholic.
