DES MOINES, Iowa — Savanna Wright came up big at both ends of the game and helped send Mount Vernon back to the Class 3A championship game.

Wright’s clutch play and Taylor Franck’s double-double lifted the Mustangs to a 53-49 victory over Dubuque Wahlert Catholic, which made it a game after trailing by 14 points at halftime.

Mount Vernon (24-2) won its 22nd straight game and will go for its second consecutive title at 8 o’clock Friday. The Mustangs will be trying for their third championship overall, having also won in 2010.

Wright scored all of Mount Vernon’s 13 points in the first quarter and hit two huge 3-pointers in the final period en route to a 24-point afternoon. She finished 5-for-12 from deep and added four rebounds, two steals and a block.

Franck, a 5-foot-5 senior who has signed with Northern Iowa, added 15 points, seven assists and — relying more on hustle and positioning than size — a team-best 10 rebounds.

Emily Tanny’s 18 points led Wahlert (19-6), which lost to Mount Vernon in last year’s championship game. Celia Scherr added 11 points and 10 rebounds for the Golden Eagles and Claire King scored eight.

Wright’s hot start — she made five of her first six shots — staked Mount Vernon to a 13-7 lead after one quarter. Franck took over in the second quarter, scoring 10 points as the Mustangs opened a 30-16 lead heading into halftime.

Wahlert chipped away at the lead early in the second half before hitting the Mustangs with an 11-0 run to tie it at 36. Franck’s driving bucket broke the tie and ended a Mount Vernon drought of nearly 5 minutes.

Wright then hit a running jump shot and buried a 3-pointer to start the fourth quarter, hiking the lead to 43-36. But the Golden Eagles charged back again, tying the score at 45 when Scherr swished a trey from the right corner.

But they never pulled ahead. Franck’a sister Courtney knocked down a 3 from the left corner and Wright followed with another 3-ball with 1:18 left. That made it 51-45, enough of a cushion for the Mustangs to hold on.